Toward an integrated disaster management approach: How artificial intelligence can boost disaster management

Technical and methodological enhancement of hazards and disaster research is identified as a critical question in disaster management. Artificial intelligence (AI) applications, such as tracking and mapping, geospatial analysis, remote sensing techniques, robotics, drone technology, machine learning, telecom and network services, accident and hot spot analysis, smart city urban planning, transportation planning, and environmental impact analysis, are the technological components of societal change, having significant implications for research on the societal response to hazards and disasters. Social science researchers have used various technologies and methods to examine hazards and disasters through disciplinary, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary lenses. They have employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection and data analysis strategies. This study provides an overview of the current applications of AI in disaster management during its four phases and how AI is vital to all disaster management phases, leading to a faster, more concise, equipped response. Integrating a geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) into disaster management enables higher planning, analysis, situational awareness, and recovery operations. GIS and RS are commonly recognized as key support tools for disaster management. Visualization capabilities, satellite images, and artificial intelligence analysis can assist governments in making quick decisions after natural disasters

The Methodologies and Main Challenges of Assessment the Multi-Hazard Interaction and Risk Management Associated with Roads Infrastructures and Dam Safety: A Review

The idea of multi-hazard interactions and risk assessment, particularly in relation to both natural hazards and hazards triggered by anthropogenic processes, has been widely used, especially in recent decades. Numerous areas worldwide, as well as various sectors, face exposure to multiple hazards. These hazards encompass natural phenomena like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, and more. In comparison, the human-induced or anthropogenic processes associated with infrastructure development, along with other potential human activities such as, land and cover use change, contribute to the overall hazard landscape. Both natural hazards and anthropogenic-induced directly led to infrastructure collapse and loss of functionality with other consequences for human lives, economy, beside the environment impacts. Limited studies have been conducted on the implementation of the comprehensive multi-hazard interaction approach, which is globally or regionally required, along with detailed studies on the interaction between different multi-hazard sources and their interrelationships in short-term or long-term scenarios. The current research aims to review previous literature and studies on the multi-hazard interaction approach, methodologies of visualization and classification, as well as explores the potential of multi-hazard associated with road networks, infrastructures, and dams. The research utilizes simulation various models and tools such as, Geographic Information System (GIS) beside Remote Sensing (Rs) techniques. The current study concludes that using multi-hazard maps, hazard matrix, and fragility curves represents highly valuable and very useful and flexible tools for implementing and visualization hot spot areas exposure by multi-hazard consequences and vulnerability analysis for short and long-term scenarios. In addition, the current review highlighted for development a holistic conceptual framework for multi-hazard and risk assessment associated with hydraulic structures such as dams, road networks and infrastructures with hazard exposure analysis to be used as tools for a decision support system (DSS) in order to develop urban resilience, risk management and hazard mitigations

The Methodologies and Main Challenges of Assessment the Multi-Hazard Interaction and Risk Management Associated with Roads Infrastructures and Dam Safety: A Review

The idea of multi-hazard interactions and risk assessment, particularly in relation to both natural hazards and hazards triggered by anthropogenic processes, has been widely used, especially in recent decades. Numerous areas worldwide, as well as various sectors, face exposure to multiple hazards. These hazards encompass natural phenomena like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, and more. In comparison, the human-induced or anthropogenic processes associated with infrastructure development, along with other potential human activities such as, land and cover use change, contribute to the overall hazard landscape. Both natural hazards and anthropogenic-induced directly led to infrastructure collapse and loss of functionality with other consequences for human lives, economy, beside the environment impacts. Limited studies have been conducted on the implementation of the comprehensive multi-hazard interaction approach, which is globally or regionally required, along with detailed studies on the interaction between different multi-hazard sources and their interrelationships in short-term or long-term scenarios. The current research aims to review previous literature and studies on the multi-hazard interaction approach, methodologies of visualization and classification, as well as explores the potential of multi-hazard associated with road networks, infrastructures, and dams. The research utilizes simulation various models and tools such as, Geographic Information System (GIS) beside Remote Sensing (Rs) techniques. The current study concludes that using multi-hazard maps, hazard matrix, and fragility curves represents highly valuable and very useful and flexible tools for implementing and visualization hot spot areas exposure by multi-hazard consequences and vulnerability analysis for short and long-term scenarios. In addition, the current review highlighted for development a holistic conceptual framework for multi-hazard and risk assessment associated with hydraulic structures such as dams, road networks and infrastructures with hazard exposure analysis to be used as tools for a decision support system (DSS) in order to develop urban resilience, risk management and hazard mitigations

Cost-Effectiveness of Stronger Woodframe Buildings

We examine the cost-effectiveness of improvements in woodframe buildings. These include retrofits, redesign measures, and improved quality in 19 hypothetical woodframe dwellings. We estimated cost-effectiveness for each improvement and each zip code in California. The dwellings were designed under the CUREE-Caltech Woodframe Project. Costs and seismic vulnerability were determined on a component-by-component basis using the Assembly Based Vulnerability method, within a nonlinear time-history structural-analysis framework and using full-size test specimen data. Probabilistic site hazard was calculated by zip code, considering site soil classification, and integrated with vulnerability to determine expected annualized repair cost. The approach provides insight into uncertainty of loss at varying shaking levels. We calculated present value of benefit to determine cost-effectiveness in terms of benefit-cost ratio (BCR). We find that one retrofit exhibits BCRs as high as 8, and is in excess of 1 in half of California zip codes. Four retrofit or redesign measures are cost-effective in at least some locations. Higher quality is estimated to save thousands of dollars per house. Results are illustrated by maps for the Los Angeles and San Francisco regions and are available for every zip code in California

Multidimensional approach for tsunami vulnerability assessment: framing the territorial iImpacts in two municipalities in Portugal

This study presents a new multidimensional methodology for tsunami vulnerability assessment that combines the morphological, structural, social, and tax component of vulnerability. This new approach can be distinguished from previous methodologies that focused primarily on the evaluation of potentially affected buildings and did not use tsunami numerical modeling. The methodology was applied to the Figueira da Foz and Vila do Bispo municipalities in Portugal. For each area, the potential tsunami-inundated areas were calculated considering the 1755 Lisbon tsunami, which is the greatest disaster caused by natural hazards that ever occurred in Portugal. Furthermore, the four components of the vulnerability were calculated to obtain a composite vulnerability index. This methodology enables us to differentiate the two areas in their vulnerability, highlighting the characteristics of the territory components. This methodology can be a starting point for the creation of a local assessment framework at the municipal scale related to tsunami risk. In addition, the methodology is an important support for the different local stakeholders.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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

Earthquake Loss Assessment for Integrated Disaster Risk Management

Understanding probable losses and reconstruction costs due to earthquakes creates powerful incentives for countries to develop planning options and tools to cope with risk, including allocating the sustained budgetary resources necessary to reduce those potential damages and safeguard development. A specific catastrophic risk model has been developed to evaluate, building by building, the probabilistic losses and pure premiums of different portfolios, taking into account the seismic microzonation of cities. This model has been used to evaluate the fiscal contingency liabilities of the government and to build an optimal structure for risk transfer and retention, considering contingent credits, reserve funds, insurance/reinsurance, and cat bonds. Lastly, the model allows the evaluation of an exceedance probability curve of benefit-cost ratio, providing an innovative and ground-breaking tool for decision makers to analyze the net benefits of the risk mitigation strategies, such as earthquake retrofitting and seismic code enforcement. This article describes the model and the derived abovementioned tools, using the results of loss scenarios and the strategies implemented in some earthquake prone urban centers

Review article: Review of fragility analyses for major building types in China with new implications for intensity-PGA relation development

The evaluation of the seismic fragility of buildings is one key task of earthquake safety and loss assessment. Many research reports and papers have been published over the past 4 decades that deal with the vulnerability of buildings to ground motion caused by earthquakes in China. We first scrutinized 69 papers and theses studying building damage for earthquakes that occurred in densely populated areas. They represent observations where macroseismic intensities have been determined according to the official Chinese Seismic Intensity Scale. From these many studies we derived the median fragility functions (dependent on intensity) for four damage limit states of the two most widely distributed building types: masonry and reinforced concrete.We also inspected 18 publications that provide analytical fragility functions (dependent on PGA, peak ground acceleration) for the same damage classes and building categories. Thus, a solid fragility database based on both intensity and PGA is established for seismicity-prone areas in mainland China. A comprehensive view of the problems posed by the evaluation of fragility for different building types is given. Based on the newly collected fragility database, we propose a new approach in deriving intensity–PGA relations by using fragility as the bridge, and reasonable intensity–PGA relations are developed. This novel approach may shed light on new thought in decreasing the scatter in traditional intensity–PGA relation development, i.e., by further classifying observed macroseismic intensities and instrumental ground motions based on differences in building seismic resistance capability