Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

"Last-Mile" preparation for a potential disaster

Extreme natural events, like e.g. tsunamis or earthquakes, regularly lead to catastrophes with dramatic consequences. In recent years natural disasters caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, destruction of infrastructure, disruption of economic activity and loss of billions of dollars worth of property and thus revealed considerable deficits hindering their effective management: Needs for stakeholders, decision-makers as well as for persons concerned include systematic risk identification and evaluation, a way to assess countermeasures, awareness raising and decision support systems to be employed before, during and after crisis situations. The overall goal of this study focuses on interdisciplinary integration of various scientific disciplines to contribute to a tsunami early warning information system. In comparison to most studies our focus is on high-end geometric and thematic analysis to meet the requirements of small-scale, heterogeneous and complex coastal urban systems. Data, methods and results from engineering, remote sensing and social sciences are interlinked and provide comprehensive information for disaster risk assessment, management and reduction. In detail, we combine inundation modeling, urban morphology analysis, population assessment, socio-economic analysis of the population and evacuation modeling. The interdisciplinary results eventually lead to recommendations for mitigation strategies in the fields of spatial planning or coping capacity

Climate change and disaster impact reduction

Based on papers presented at the 'UK - South Asia Young Scientists and Practitioners Seminar on Climate Change and Disaster Impact Reduction' held at Kathmandu, Nepal on 5-6 June, 2008

Remote sensing and GIS in disasters management-in special reference to Asian countries

During the past five decades, natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes, severe storms and tropical cyclones, droughts, wild land fires, and also manmade disasters such as Nuclear disaster, oil spills, and terrorist attacks have caused major loss of human lives and livelihoods, the destruction of economic and social infrastructure, as well as environmental damages. Disaster reduction is both an issue for consideration in sustainable development agenda and a cross cutting issue relating to social, economic, environmental and humanitarian sectors. These important features have to analyze and there is a need to study. Though, in recent years the Open GIS technology standards have been developed by several agencies, which provide the basis for utilization of geographic information services, also gives an opportunity for data interoperability, data integration and data sharing between different emergency management agencies, However finding suitable services and visualization of geospatial information for decision makers is still a crucial task. Objective of this paper is to assess the state of art literature review in different methodologies of utilizing geospatial technology in managing both natural and manmade disasters dedicated by different authors and also to find new direction in this important area

Rebuild, Retreat, or Resilience: Can Taipei Plan for Resilience?

Taiwan is ranked as the country most exposed to multiple hazards (The World Bank 2005). Taipei City is the capital city as well as the economic and political center of Taiwan. The United Nations report World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision places Taipei City third on the list of the worldâ??s top 10 urban areas exposed to three or more natural hazards, with the highest risk of cyclones, floods, and landslides. In order to gauge the vulnerabilities and damages of Taiwan and Taipei City, this research creates a natural disaster density indicator (NDDI) to conduct a comparative study of Taiwan, Japan, China, U.S.A., U.K., France, and the Netherlands over the past three decades. The results indicate that Taiwan has both the highest disaster occurrence and highest death toll among these seven countries. The Taipei case study, a chronology of policies implemented to prevent flooding, explains that costly engineering structures, rebuilding, and fortification against floods eventually created a false sense of security, which has encouraged more intensive residential and commercial developments in flood-prone areas, and led to a higher level of vulnerability. This research further simulates and evaluates the vulnerabilities of population, land value, properties, GDP, and critical facilities in three scenarios: heavy rainfall, typhoon conditions, and extreme weather rainfall, through the technology of Geographic Information System (GIS) by using ArcMap 10.2.2 software. The results indicate 40% of Taipei City is located in flood risk areas in an extreme weather scenario. This percentage is higher than other global cities such as Londonâ??s 15%, Tokyoâ??s 10%, and New York Cityâ??s 25%. Based on the 10% of total flooding areas above 0.5 meter, the vulnerable population is estimated at 200,000 people, or 7% of the total population. The GDP impact will be more than $28 billion. More than$67 billion of land value is vulnerable. A least one million subway passengers will be impacted each day. There is little evidence that the urban poor are particularly vulnerable to floods. On the contrary, some neighborhoods with high income households face a higher risk of floods. Very few medical centers, oil and gas stations, and electrical power substations are located in flood-prone areas, but, a large number of public schools, administrative buildings, and major subway stations are susceptible. Additionally, the likelihood analysis of flooding in an extreme weather rainfall scenario concludes that the possibility will be five times that of the existing assumption with a flood in every 200 years. Thus, Taipei Cityâ??s infrequent once-in-two-century floods are likely to occur more frequently. Further, the 1% of Taipei metropolitan region flooding above 1 meter will possibly cost up to $ 1.5 billion in damages. Therefore, in the future, rather than strengthening and rebuilding costly structures, Taipei should focus on land-use and environmental planning for resilience. Urban policies should include environmentally responsible development in the face of continued population and economic growth, and being resilient regarding natural disasters. Most important is the need of a strong political commitment and leadership to initiate and implement urban policies toward resilience. In doing so, resilience can be achieved in Taipei

Functional and Technical Methods of Information and Risk Communication

Risks of natural and anthropogenic disasters can appear at any moment without warning. All levels of government agencies from federal to township, and the systems of the specialized agencies, like weather-specialists, flood control, electricity suppliers, and educational organizations are standardized and the communication has been improving. The systems of the governments and agencies, meteorologists, flood control, electricity suppliers, and educational organizations are standardized and the communication has been improving. In this chapter, government manuals, procedures for agencies and professional responders, and public awareness, perceptions, and capabilities, are reviewed in three international cities: Seoul, Tokyo, and Toronto. Each city is unique with experiences of different disasters. Communication of supports and vital information of risks without understanding the language and culture of the people may lead the public to large-scale panic. Individuals can access government websites and interpret the information, like WebGIS maps, and risks by themselves. In terms of risk communication, all urbanized cities require their own specialized risk management with reasonably effective technologies, which enhance community resilience. Even better is to have a measure of development for the care of the public after the disaster to help the people get back on their feet, such as various public insurances