International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B4. Istanbul 2004 
  
modern GIS and, in a second step, a more detailed investigation 
about different type of risk. 
During the elaboration of prediction and prevention studies 
finalized to Civil Protection, in fact, it is preliminarily 
necessary to evaluate the strategic function and the 
vulnerability of the territorial infrastructures system (road 
network, health centre, barracks, etc...) useful to support Civil 
Protection activities. 
In particular, it is possible to develop the study concerning then 
next themes: 
1. the infrastructural system analysis, with a specific 
reference to its functionality in emergency condition (helps 
coordination and management, injured people assistance, 
escape path); 
2. the individuation and characterisation of the “essential” 
infrastructure in relation to hypothesized risk scenarios 
(prefecture and coordination helps centres, hospitals, 
lifelines, etc.); 
3. the census and survey of structures and civil construction 
that if damaged could compromise the functionality of 
Civil Protection support apparatus; 
4. the individuation and localisation of the critical elements 
of infrastructural patrimony and the elaboration of 
intervention proposals for the mitigation of expected 
damage caused by the loss of system efficiency (structural 
retrofitting interventions on bridges, viaduct, etc., and 
emergency mobility plans, etc.). 
The wideness of the studied area and the involvement of 
numerous territorial problems determine the necessity of using 
GIS (Geographical Information System) not only for the great 
amount of data storage and management but above all as a 
useful instrument for studied phenomenon analysis. 
Having a complete and exhaustive geographic data-bank 
finalised to Civil Protection interventions is very important to 
predispose every activities of planning and surveying. 
Indeed, the knowledge of natural resources available in 
emergency condition (related to the localisation, the typology 
and the importance of the calamitous events) consents to 
individuate, thanks to decisional support algorithm, not only the 
best helps supply centres, but even the most opportune 
methodologies for damages surveying. In this sense, another 
strategic advantage is the possibility to supervise the emergency 
teams in a coordinated and integrated way since the preliminary 
alert step to the operative phase of damage surveying and 
management step. The modern techniques of Real Time GIS 
represent a great potentiality for the optimised management 
both for surveying and first aid operation. 
In the last years, the European Community has manifested great 
attention to the problems of Civil Protection, pointing out that 
National Organizations, that have to improve their efficiency, 
have not been fully benefiting by the opportunities of new 
technologies since these last were offered. For these reasons, 
some trans-national project (such as FORMIDABLE and 
FGFRIS) have been financed. Both the experiences, already 
concluded, have created more efficient organizational structures 
and have found the instruments necessary for the intervention 
teams and for the implementation of the methods for territorial 
data acquisition. 
[n particular the relations and communication modalities 
among central coordination of activities and local and mobile 
operative units have been improved. 
Moreover, a specific hardware architecture, composed by a 
hand-held PC with a GPS receiver and GPRS terminal has been 
selected. 
Considering the high variety of risk typologies and the great 
differences about the information to manage and to elaborate, 
every GIS application have to be considered as a "specialized" 
independent work environment related to a particular scenario. 
Because of the difference of data and models required to 
analyse and to manage every risk type, it is necessary to 
predispose many specialized GIS application, based on high 
informative detail and accuracy and great cartographic scale. 
Everyone of these specialized GIS have to be co-ordinate with 
the Central Civil Protection GIS, characterized by a common 
geographic databank based on less greater cartographic scale 
and containing general information useful during emergencies, 
such as territorial resources location, population spatial 
distribution, etc. Both central and specialized GIS have to be 
intended as two different co-ordinated components aimed to 
evaluate and, eventually, to manage territorial risks. So, the 
entire system have to be planned using advanced one-to-many 
relationship on different geographic databank and cartography. 
GIS has to be intended not only as a decision support System, 
but they reach the best expression if interpreted as a dynamic 
working environment where it is possible to elaborate, also in 
real time, new information from available data and to simulate 
complicated phenomenon using mathematical models, using 
vector or GRID basis. 
  
Central Civil Protection GIS 
     
    
  
  
a FOpgon | (uk 
  
  
      
Specialized GIS Specialized GIS Specialized GIS 
  
  
on Seismic Risk on Volcanic Risk on. lo Risk 
  
  
Figure 1. Specialized GIS on different risk type related to 
Central Civil Protection GIS 
3. HAZARD SCENARIOS AND GEOMATIC ROLE AS 
A SUPPORT IN CIVIL PROTECTION INTERVENTIONS 
Further on, there is a synthetic description of the most 
important aspects related to different hazard scenarios and of 
the geomatic contribution for the knowledge and the 
management of these. 
3.1 Seismic risk 
Seismic risk evaluation is generally articulated in three steps: 
1. Seismic hazard study finalised to the definition of 
scenario and to the adoption of the most probable 
attenuation model related to the historic seismology 
and the geologic and tectonic features of the territory; 
2. Analysis of the indirect exposure related to the 
distribution of population and of territorial 
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