Improving information access for emergency response in disasters

During disasters, many researchers highlight the efficiency of the various information techniques that are used for emergency response. However, only a few information systems consider on-site and off-site information requirements synchronously. The results achieved by the emergency responders will not be as effective as they should be, since the emergency responders cannot access necessary information. Therefore, this study proposed an approach for dealing with three problems associated with emergency situations, i.e., inadequate escape guidelines for people, incomplete geographical information for relief workers, and insufficient on-site information for disaster managers. In a simulated scenario, when serious debris flows occurred, this study tested the approach. The test results showed that the people rapidly finished self-evacuation, the relief workers effectively completed their on-site relief work, and the disaster managers successfully managed the on-site activities regarding the people and relief workers. Overall, the recommended approach improved information access for emergency response and provided a useful reference for similar applications in disaster management.     

Concept for a Web-based Information System for Flood Management

Recent emergency flood situations at European rivers have revealed the demand for better and in-time information for citizens in flood prone areas about flood development, as well as better coordination of resources and actions during pre-flood phases and its critical stage. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has a large potential to improve the situation. Decisions may be supported by information about resources available at the region and national level, by information about means and access to critical locations at the prevention as well as the evacuation phases, and by including citizens as well as managers into one common information and communication process. The paper outlines the potential of ICT for these aspects.     

Evacuees’ information sources and reentry decision making in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike

In the aftermath of a hurricane, local emergency managers need to communicate reentry plans to households that might be scattered over multiple counties or states. To better understand evacuees’ households’ reliance on different information sources at the time they decided to return home, this study collected data on reentry after Hurricane Ike. The results from a survey of 340 evacuating households indicated that there was low compliance with official reentry plans and that none of the information sources produced greater compliance with official reentry plans. Nonetheless, there were significant changes in the utilization of different sources of emergency information over the course of an evacuation but local news media remained the most common sources throughout the event. There also were significant differences in the relative importance of different sources of reentry information, with people relying most on information from peers. In summary, local authorities need to identify more effective ways to communicate with evacuees that have relocated to distant communities and to motivate them to comply with official reentry plans.     

Beyond Modelling: Linking Models with GIS for Flood Risk Management

Spatially explicit hydrodynamic flood models can play animportant role in natural hazard risk reduction. A key element of these models that make them suitable for riskreduction is the ability to provide time-series inundation information about the onset, duration and passingof a hazard event. Such information can be critical for landuse planning, for mapping evacuation egress routes,and for locating suitable emergency shelters to name only a few risk treatments. This research contends that abarrier to effective risk reduction is providing disaster managers with access to model results in a structured andflexible framework that allows consequences of different hazard scenarios to be assessed and mapped. Toaddress these limitations, a framework has been developed that links a commercial relational databasemanagement system with a GIS-based decision support system. The framework utilises industry standard dataexchange protocols and results in efficient time-series hazard data management. A case study based in Cairns,in far-north coastal Australia is presented to illustrate how the system has been developed. Results show that theframework reduces data volumes significantly, while making pre-run modelled inundation results rapidly accessibleto disaster managers. Of note is the ability of the framework to present results in terms of risk to buildings,roads and other spatial features in urban regions, and to provide answers to relatively complex risk questions.     

Opportunities provided by geographic information systems and volunteered geographic information for a timely emergency response during flood events in Cologne,Germany

The occurrence of disasters such as extreme flooding in urban environments has severe consequences, not only on the human population but also on critical infrastructures such as the road networks, which are of vital importance for everyday living and particularly for emergency response. In this article, our main goal is to present-conceptually and in praxis-a model that could be used from the emergency responders for timely and efficient emergency management and response in an urban complex environment. For the city of Cologne in Germany, we aim to indicate possible ways to decrease the emergency response time during an extreme flood scenario through the development of an accessibility indicator, which consists of different components. Therefore, we will investigate the opportunities that occur, in a flood risk scenario, from the use of geographic information in different forms such as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and open-source data in an ArcGIS environment, to increase urban resilience through the decreasing emergency response time. We will focus on network analysis for the fire brigades (first acting emergency responders) during a flood scenario to calculate their emergency response ranges and emergency response routes through flooded road networks, for the assistance of the possibly affected hospitals, refugee homes and fire brigades, which can be flooded. At the end of the paper, we suggest that the vulnerable community of the refugees could be taken into consideration as a new source of VGI, as an additional component that would lead to the decrease in the emergency response time. The geo-located information that could be provided by the refugee community can be very useful in emergency situations, such as those examined in this article where timely information can be forwarded to the proper authorities for a more focused and timely emergency response, increasing the resilience of the urban population and their community.

     

Opportunities provided by geographic information systems and volunteered geographic information for a timely emergency response during flood events in Cologne,Germany

The occurrence of disasters such as extreme flooding in urban environments has severe consequences, not only on the human population but also on critical infrastructures such as the road networks, which are of vital importance for everyday living and particularly for emergency response. In this article, our main goal is to present-conceptually and in praxis-a model that could be used from the emergency responders for timely and efficient emergency management and response in an urban complex environment. For the city of Cologne in Germany, we aim to indicate possible ways to decrease the emergency response time during an extreme flood scenario through the development of an accessibility indicator, which consists of different components. Therefore, we will investigate the opportunities that occur, in a flood risk scenario, from the use of geographic information in different forms such as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and open-source data in an ArcGIS environment, to increase urban resilience through the decreasing emergency response time. We will focus on network analysis for the fire brigades (first acting emergency responders) during a flood scenario to calculate their emergency response ranges and emergency response routes through flooded road networks, for the assistance of the possibly affected hospitals, refugee homes and fire brigades, which can be flooded. At the end of the paper, we suggest that the vulnerable community of the refugees could be taken into consideration as a new source of VGI, as an additional component that would lead to the decrease in the emergency response time. The geo-located information that could be provided by the refugee community can be very useful in emergency situations, such as those examined in this article where timely information can be forwarded to the proper authorities for a more focused and timely emergency response, increasing the resilience of the urban population and their community.     

A model-based approach for a systematic risk analysis of local flood emergency operation plans: a first step toward a decision support system

The recurring heavy precipitations which have struck the south of France these last few years highlight that the affected cities have little pertinent information on how to manage these emergencies, and therefore appear powerless. In response, the development of a local emergency operations plan (EOP) for communities threatened by natural and technological hazards was made compulsory by French law in 2004. This article describes a systematic risk analysis approach for local EOPs. This method is based on a functional model that represents a local EOP as a set of interacting functions, each of them using resources and controls. This decomposition facilitates the identification of the human, technical, and organizational resources that are essential to safeguard the inhabitants of a community threatened by a hazard. This model provides a precise frame for performing an exhaustive and rigorous risk analysis of a local EOP. Based on this model and this risk analysis, potential failures are identified and organized into fault tree for each function. Then assessment checklists of the functions of the EOP are structured via these fault trees. By using these checklists, the analysis of a local EOP becomes more rigorous, exhaustive, and systematic, which makes it possible to broadly study the criticality of the plan. Therefore, this method enhances the potential success of the pre-planned actions during a disaster. This is the first step of a decision support system for city emergency managers who are designing their local emergency plan.     

北京市怀柔应急备用地下水源管理信息系统开发

北京是一个以地下水供水为主的大都市,约67％的供水依靠地下水。自1999年以来因连续干旱,地表水源锐减,北京市建成了多处城市应急备用地下水水源地,为保障城市供水安全做出了重要贡献。为提高应急水源地管理水平,建立了基于GIS的、集实时监测、统计报表、模拟评价和管理预誓于一体的应急水源地管理信息系统（EGWMIS）。该系统的应用提升了地下水水源地的管理水平,增强了地下水开采的科学性,提高了供水保证程度和供水安全。     

Planning for Tsunami-Resilient Communities

The National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) Steering Committee consists of representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the states of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. The program addresses three major components: hazard assessment, warning guidance, and mitigation. The first two components, hazard assessment and warning guidance, are led by physical scientists who, using research and modeling methods, develop products that allow communities to identify their tsunami hazard areas and receive more accurate and timely warning information. The third component, mitigation, is led by the emergency managers who use their experience and networks to translate science and technology into user-friendly planning and education products. Mitigation activities focus on assisting federal, state, and local officials who must plan for and respond to disasters, and for the public that is deeply affected by the impacts of both the disaster and the pre-event planning efforts. The division between the three components softened as NTHMP scientists and emergency managers worked together to develop the best possible products for the users given the best available science, technology, and planning methods using available funds.     

NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) – A Coastal Solution to Tsunami Alert and Notification

The Washington State/Local Tsunami Work Group adopted the NOAA Weather Radio All-Hazards Warning System to warn citizens quickly and effectively of not only tsunami hazards but also other natural or man-made hazards. In concert with an array of deep ocean tsunami detectors, land-based seismic sensors, and warning messages issued by the tsunami warning centers, NWR provides a means to expeditiously get critical decision-making information to emergency managers, elected officials, and first responders. To implement the NWR strategy effectively, a partnership was developed to add a repeater to the NWR system to provide complete coverage to the coast of Washington and to shipping lanes off the coast. The Work Group also recognized the need to disseminate time critical hazard information on tsunamis to the public on beaches and in high traffic areas, so it developed a new notification system, with the first prototype installed on 2 July 2003 in Ocean Shores, Washington. A public education program also was developed to improve the impacted communities understanding of the tsunami hazard, the warning system, and actions they should take if a tsunami occurs.     

自然灾害风险防控和应急救援平台构建与实践

为了适应当前常态减灾与非常态救灾情景下信息化管理的深度应用,提出一种面向自然灾害突发事件应对过程的业务平台的设计方案。采用数据交换方法,实现多部门之间的信息共享;建立自然灾害综合数据库,实现统一数据源管理和实时更新;采用智能移动终端推送自然灾害信息,实现政府-社会-公众多元协同;基于网络地理信息系统实时显示自然灾害风险状况,实现自然灾害风险监测预警、综合研判和应急指挥应用。该平台有效提升了自然灾害风险防控的管理水平和应急管理的工作效率,真正实现了跨领域、多灾种、全流程的自然灾害风险闭环管理和精准管控的目标。     

城市突发性地质灾害应急系统探讨

城市突发性地质灾害是当今减灾的重点，已引起了广泛的关注。人们意识到灾后及时地采取应急抢险救援措施，可以有效地减少人员伤亡。灾害应急行动包括建立应急指挥机构，明确职责，并进行资源调配。灾害应急抢险救灾时实性强，其快速反应行动涉及危机管理、预警、撤离、避险，以及维护法律与社会秩序、信息通报、灾情评估。应急救援行动还包括城市基础和生命线的恢复，以确保受灾居民和社区的基本需求。论文在分析城市突发性地质灾害应急管理进展和存在问题的基础上，探讨了当前城市地质灾害应急反应系统中的监测预警系统、快速反应系统、应急指挥系统、应急避难系统、信息发布系统、空间信息系统和宣传教育系统：通过实施这些应急系统并制定预案可以达到减轻城市突发性地质灾害的目的。     

Community variations in population exposure to near-field tsunami hazards as a function of pedestrian travel time to safety

Efforts to characterize population exposure to near-field tsunami threats typically focus on quantifying the number and type of people in tsunami-hazard zones. To develop and prioritize effective risk-reduction strategies, emergency managers also need information on the potential for successful evacuations and how this evacuation potential varies among communities. To improve efforts to properly characterize and differentiate near-field tsunami threats among multiple communities, we assess community variations in population exposure to tsunamis as a function of pedestrian travel time to safety. We focus our efforts on the multiple coastal communities in Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties (State of Washington, USA), where a substantial resident and visitor population is threatened by near-field tsunamis related to a potential Cascadia subduction zone earthquake. Anisotropic, path distance modeling is conducted to estimate travel times to safety, and results are merged with various population data, including residents, employees, public venues, and dependent-care facilities. Results suggest that there is substantial variability among communities in the number of people that may have insufficient time to evacuate. Successful evacuations may be possible in some communities assuming slow walking speeds, are plausible in others if travel speeds are increased, and are unlikely in another set of communities given the large distances and short time horizon. Emergency managers can use these results to prioritize the location and determine the most appropriate type of tsunami risk-reduction strategies, such as education and training in areas where evacuations are plausible and vertical-evacuation structures in areas where they are not.     

Inter-organizational coordination in extreme events: The World Trade Center attacks, September 11, 2001

This paper addresses the problem of inter-organizational coordination in response to extreme events. Extreme events require coordinated action among multiple actors across many jurisdictions under conditions of urgent stress, heavy demand and tight time constraints. The problem is socio-technical in that the capacity for inter-organizational coordination depends upon the technical structure and performance of the information systems that support decision making among the participating organizations. Interactions among human managers, computers and organizations under suddenly altered conditions of operation are complex and not well understood. Yet, coordinating response operations to extreme events is an extraordinarily complex task for public and nonprofit managers. This paper will analyze the interactions among public, private and nonprofit organizations that evolved in response to the 11 September 2001 attacks, examining the relationships among organizations in terms of timely access to information and types of supporting infrastructure. The performance of the inter-organizational system is examined in the context of the events of 11 September 2001 from the theoretical perspective of complex adaptive systems. A model of auto-adaptation is proposed for implementation to improve inter- organizational performance in extreme events. This model is based on the concept of individual, organizational and collective learning in environments exposed to recurring risk, guided by a shared goal. Such a model requires public investment in the development of an information infrastructure that can support the intense demand for communication, information search, exchange and feedback that characterizes an auto-adaptive system.     

Testing the use of a ‘questionnaire survey instrument’ to investigate public perceptions of tsunami hazard and risk in Sydney,Australia

The Indian Ocean tsunami (IOT) of December 2004 has demonstrated that the coasts of Australia are vulnerable to tsunami flooding. As a consequence of the IOT, the Australian Federal Treasurer announced in 2005 that the Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia will jointly develop and implement the Australian Tsunami Warning System. Effective response to tsunami warnings is highly dependent on public awareness and perception of tsunami hazard and risk. At present, no efforts have been made to investigate and publish public awareness of tsunami hazard and risk and as such, emergency managers have little idea of the likely challenges to effecting appropriate tsunami risk management. We develop a short questionnaire survey instrument and trial that instrument in order to investigate its suitability for generating information about the perceptions of tsunami hazard and risk in the Sydney region. We found that the design, layout and format of the questionnaire were suitable for our purpose and should be useful for generating information appropriate to emergency management agencies tasked with the responsibility of developing tsunami education campaigns and risk mitigation strategies in Australia. However, certain limitations, such as individual question design and format, should be considered before a much larger survey of various stakeholders is conducted.     

Evacuation behaviour of households and drivers during a tornado

With increasing concerns over the possibility of tornadoes in highly populated areas in Canada, emergency managers are looking into ways to mitigate the impacts of tornadoes. Given that tornadoes can cause enormous destruction, early warnings and proper evacuation actions are critically important in helping save lives. In this paper, a survey was conducted to analyse the evacuation behaviour of households and drivers during a hypothetical tornado warning situation in the city of Calgary, Alberta. Nearly 500 Calgarians took part in the online survey and provided information on how they would respond to tornado warnings after receiving them. This paper presents the results of the survey. Using probit models, the factors influencing these evacuation decisions are identified and discussed in detail. The results of the household evacuation model show the importance of improving awareness about the safest locations during a tornado. It further highlights the need for targeting the population under the age of 30, who are more likely to take unsafe evacuation actions. The model for evacuation of drivers shows that several factors, such as knowing the difference between a watch and a warning, awareness of safe cover, receipt of warnings through natural environmental cues and the level of education, trigger evacuation actions in avoiding a tornado threat.     

岩溶塌陷易发区地下水安全开采控制——以珠三角广花盆地城市应急水源地为例

以珠三角广花盆地城市应急水源地为例,通过野外现场抽水和室内临界水力梯度试验对比,分析了地下水安全开采的控制条件。结果显示:广花盆地的岩溶塌陷是可通过控制水位降深等方法进行防控的,当地下水开采水位降深控制在9 m以内时,可大幅度降低岩溶塌陷概率。该结果可直接作为企业进行地下水安全开采的控制性指标和政府管理部门安全管控的决策性指标。由于地质条件的差异性,在实际开采地下水过程中,不能机械地依赖单一的地下水水位降深控制指标,应根据抽水影响半径以及各地不同的临界水力坡度分地段控制地下水位降深,或者改变开采方式,以达到充分利用地下水资源的目的。建议在实际抽水期间制订突发灾害预案,加强地下水监测工作,实时掌握地下水和其他影响因素变化动态。      

SEPM: rapid seism emergency information processing based on social media

Natural Hazards - This study examines the factors that are likely to influence emergency managers’ willingness and ability to report to work after a catastrophic event using the Cascadia...     

北斗卫星技术在数字地质调查系统中的集成开发与应用

在深入了解"北斗一号"导航卫星系统技术特点的基础上,结合地质调查工作流程,研究"北斗一号"导航卫星系统与数字地质调查系统集成的关键技术和实现方式以及系统的应用推广模式。研究表明,基于"北斗一号"卫星系统与GPS的双模式位置报送机制,可以为野外地质调查人员提供稳定的位置服务;北斗终端与手机的短信互通,在无手机网络的艰险地区也可与外界保持实时沟通。基于北斗导航卫星的DGSInfo系统可实现驻地实时监控和指挥,有助于野外应急事件的快速响应和处置,在中心节点可实现全局监控,为管理部门指挥调度和决策提供依据。GSIGrid野外地质调查管理服务与安全保障系统可在固定节点实现对移动节点的移动轨迹和通讯信息实时监控,并能与野外驻地和移动目标进行互动通讯,为野外地质调查人员提供查询服务,为突发事件应急处置的管理与决策提供数据支持。集成系统在东昆仑1:50000区调项目示范应用中取得了良好效果。