3S 2010 (International SUMMER STUDENT SEMINAR)
Geomatics supporting Disaster Management
Andrea Ajmar, Fabio Giulio Tonolo
The session “Geomatics supporting Disaster Management” will be divided in two different modules; the first one more theoretical and descriptive while the second one devoted to the simulation of a rapid mapping activation related to a real flood event.
First module - THEORY
After an introduction on natural disaster management procedures, paying particular attention to the role of geomatics in delivering product and services in support of emergency preparedness and response activities, the issue of the role of humanitarian and technical International Organizations in the field of Emergency Preparedness and Response will be addressed. Technical features of the main input data (focusing on satellite imagery) and their availability will be described, highlighting time and effectiveness constraints. Data processing procedures (devoted to information extraction) and value added products generation activities (standards map layouts and data dissemination procedures) will be analyzed in detail. The crucial role of a shared Spatial Data Infrastructure will be thoroughly described (system architecture and functionality, interoperability issues) as well as the importance of customized WebGIS applications. The last part of this module will be devoted to specific case studies (with a focus on the adopted technical procedures) and to the lesson learned and possible improvement of the geomatics based tools to support emergency management.
Second module - PRACTICE
The practice session will simulate a real activation aimed at supporting the response activities to a major flood event, specifically by means of rapid mapping activities:
- alerts
- expected information to be delivered
- data sources
- new acquisitions triggering
- public domain satellite data retrieving
- water bodies extraction and cloud masking (optical approach, reference and post imagery data processing)
- water bodies extraction (radar approach, post image data processing)
- affected population estimate
- map template generation
- map outputs dissemination
The simulation will be conducted using ESRI software (ArcGIS 9.3 required) and sharing via a local network folder the relevant data, mainly through a Geodatabase check-out replica.