Emerging and Trustful Citizen-Scientist Technologies for Disaster Data Collection and Mapping
ZhiQiang CHEN (USA)
Data Integration and Information Fusion toward Disaster Risk Reduction by Design
Toshio KOIKE (Japan)
Determination of Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk by Means of the Application of GIS Tools and Multi-Criteria Methods: the Colombia-Spain Study Cases
Nelson RANGEL (Colombia)
Mapping Seismic Risk of Mandalay City, Myanmar: a Scenario Earthquake Approach
Peeranan TOWASHIRAPORN (Myanmar)
Emerging and Trustful Citizen-Scientist Technologies for Disaster Data Collection and Mapping
ZhiQiang CHEN
School of Computing and Engineering, University of Missouri, Kansas City, USA
Traditional disaster data collection and mapping is achieved through the use of remote sensing technologies and ground reconnaissance activities. However, real-time data collection in the immediate aftermath of or during disasters is the major limitation of these remote sensing technologies. In recent years, the promise of using citizen-scientist approaches for real-time damage data collection has been shown in the aftermath of several recent major disasters, including the Haiti, Japan, China and New Zealand earthquakes, and hurricane and tornado disasters in the USA. These approaches are typically built upon the power of social networking through a centralised crisis map (e.g. Google’s or Ushahidi’s crisis map). Yet one of the significant issues that have caught attention of the research and practice communities is the trustfulness of the crowd-sourced data.
In this paper, we will present two emerging technologies and the prototype systems. The first is based on a mobile-cloud computing paradigm. In this system, mobile smart devices serve as the front-ends used by people in the disaster zones, who take pictures and augment pictures with ‘contextual’ information through gesture- or voice-based prescribed dictionaries. The obtained geospatial metadata from different sources are then sent to an on-demand cloud infrastructure, wherein advanced image analysis, aided by the contextual information, will compute and authorise the ‘damage’ information. Authorised damage data is then converged and displayed in a regular crisis map. Second, we will demonstrate a prototype system based on a low-cost micro-unmanned aerial system (micro-UAS) concept, which further augments the imaging capacity of the previous mobile devices-based system. The micro-UAS is designed as a flying robot complying with the user’s voice-based or gesture-based commands through a mobile computing device. Due to the built-in context-enabled imaging and authoritative analysis in the cloud, we envision that civilians, when equipped by these technologies, can provide trustful disaster and damage information in the real time. In the meantime, due to the ubiquitous popularity of mobile devices and the use of low-cost micro-UAS systems on the horizon, we expect that the technologies we develop will transform the practice of real-time disaster mapping, rescue, and assessment.
Data Integration and Information Fusion toward Disaster Risk Reduction by Design
Toshio KOIKE
School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Huge natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes, floods, drought and heat-waves) have caused catastrophic damages and loss of life. These crises also endanger the security of water, food, energy, health and ecosystem services, and property. Moreover, their effects have expanded beyond national and regional boundaries to the global scale due to the global and borderless economic and social activities.
To address the issues and strengthen the resilience to natural disasters and global climate change, we need to share comprehensive and multidisciplinary data and information, which bridges among natural hazards, socio-economic activities and human recognition and behaviours, then realise various measures to prepare for threats and disasters in advance of their occurrence, provide society with timely support and sound decision-making, and establish trans-boundary safety networks towards a resilient society. By sharing coordinated, comprehensive and sustained observations and information for sound decision-making, we will be able to develop usable information that will guide society and people to solutions.
Data integration infrastructure should enable scientists, practitioners, decision-makers, citizens and other stakeholders to share the data and information, to exchange knowledge, experiences and ideas, and to work together toward end-to-end cooperation to make a total design of disaster risk reduction and achieve resilience. It should also enhance regional coordination as well as local cooperation, by adopting data policies flexible to various users, by developing convenient data utilisation frameworks, and by improving data exchange at all levels. We can share common needs, ideas and approaches easily in each region especially in areas that are unique to the regions.
Determination of Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk by Means of the Application of GIS Tools and Multi-Criteria Methods: the Colombia-Spain Study Cases
Nelson RANGEL1 and Giorgio ANFUSO2
- Geociencias Marinas, INVEMAR, Santa Marta – Magdalena, Colombia
- Earth Sciences Department, Cadiz University, Puerto Real – Cadiz, Spain
A scientific consensus exists regarding the significant impacts of global climate change over coastal zones. They will include sea level rise, changes in frequency, intensity and duration of storms, variability in the patterns of rainfall and runoff. The study of the relationships existing between littoral transformation and climate change—with associated hazards, vulnerabilities and risks—represents the first step in the design of adaptation plans for coastal zones. Procedures used for the determination of hazards, vulnerabilities and risks can be classified according to different aspects, but the establishment of a concise classification results a difficult task where limits between classes are not strict. In this sense, a detailed methodology for the evaluation and characterisation of hazard, vulnerability and risk associated with climate change related processes was developed, tested and applied in different Colombia and Spain coastal sectors. This methodology takes into account physical, social, economic, conservational and heritage aspects. The analysis was made by a semi-quantitative approximation method, applying variables associated with the intrinsic coastal zone properties (i.e. type of beach, exposure of the coast to waves, etc.) and climate change related hazards (i.e. coastal erosion, sea lever rise, etc.). The variables were combined into different indices, which were merged into a single normalised index that allows determining coastal hazard, vulnerability and risk. Results obtained in both coastal systems reveal that there are several vulnerable areas that have very dynamic processes, such as extremely high evolution rates. Likewise, human actions affect coastal systems of Colombia and Spain: the construction of many physical structures (coastal armouring) the main cause of coastal erosion. Hazard, vulnerability and risk maps generated with this methodology can be used as a guideline contributing to the determination of causes, processes and consequences derived from the climatic change associated processes. Moreover, as several stakeholders are involved, efficient management of the coastal system is imperative and wide and careful interventions are urgently needed to avoid irreversible negative impacts on both coastal systems. The information derived by the use of the proposed methodology in this work may have direct applications in future coastal development programmes and, at the same time, can assist decision-makers in the implementation of preventive management strategies for most sensitive areas.
Mapping Seismic Risk of Mandalay City, Myanmar: a Scenario Earthquake Approach
Peeranan TOWASHIRAPORN and Kittiphong PHONGSAPAN
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Bangkok, Thailand
Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, is a highly populated commercial hub located in a tectonically active region. Mandalay is situated near the Sagaing fault, a potential seismic source that has been responsible for significant earthquake events including the Innwa earthquake (1839) and the Sagaing earthquake (1956). Since these events, Mandalay has experienced substantial population growth and urbanisation. A future major earthquake in the region could have devastating consequences, not only locally but also nationally, due to Mandalay’s importance to the national economy and foreign trade.
The project to assess seismic risk of Mandalay was initiated by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), with support from the Royal Norwegian Government, as well as the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology of the Myanmar Government. The main goal of the study was to provide the government and general public with a realistic knowledge of the severity and consequences of possible earthquake events. Understanding the seismic risk of the city will allow authorities and residents to make proper plans to prepare for earthquakes and take measures to reduce earthquake risk.
This paper presents partial results of the study focusing on the assessment of possible impact of a scenario earthquake to the city. The scenario considered was a replication of the magnitude-7 Sagaing earthquake, which took place in 1956, in today’s setting. Deterministic hazard maps including the site effects were produced for Mandalay. Furthermore, a comprehensive building survey was carried out for a sample group of 2,109 buildings. Statistics from other sources were also collected to augment the survey data. This information was used to develop a set of building models to represent the city’s existing building stock. A nonlinear static analysis was performed on each building model for assessing the physical vulnerability of buildings in the study area.
Finally, HAZUS, a risk assessment software, was used to estimate the potential casualties and damage to the building stock, essential facilities (hospitals, fire stations, police stations, schools), and lifeline facilities (transportation and potable water systems). It was estimated that 75,303 buildings in Mandalay will be at least moderately damaged due to the magnitude-7 earthquake scenario and 4,021 buildings will be damaged beyond repair. The estimated damage was presented in a map format demarcating high and low risk areas of the city.