Web Server Analysis and Summarization

The Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) displays real-time natural disaster maps in its interactive web application, DisasterAWARE. This application is used by emergency managers worldwide to graphically display the location and track the progress of global disasters. Although PDC tracks visitor counts to the application itself, there is presently no mechanism to track the number of requests made by a DisasterAWARE user to PDC's map servers; much less to analyze which maps the user is viewing, and for which extents. The goal of this project is to create a Java program to parse the information in the web server's log files and store it in a database. Once stored in a relational database, it is possible to generate summary statistics showing visitor counts to PDC's map services over a given time period, as well as the processing time taken to serve those requests. The location of the map request is also stored in a relational database, enabling PDC to analyze the most frequently requested map extents. Understanding how the application's users interact with the geospatial data, especially during a disaster, will enable PDC to improve the application by tailoring it to the information that users find the most useful in their decision making process.