The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Vol. XXXVII. Part B4. Beijing 2008
extract the villages / settlements non- inundated during last
10 years.
• Using the elevation data it assigns the elevation to each of
the settlements.
The above information for selected districts / provinces was
generated and a web service was created for severing to users/
client. A comprehensive web interface was designed with
standard features such as pan, roam, zoom, inquire location and
map navigation tools. Figure-8 shows the application web
interface.
Figure -8 Web Application for identification of suitable
locations for flood shelters
The user can access the site through web browser and select the
district of interest from the drop-down menu list. The
corresponding map sowing the suitable locations for the flood
shelters will be displayed along with other topographical
features retrieved from the database. The user has an option to
select the layers required in the map and export/ print the map
at pre-defmed scales. A brief report / tabular statement can be
generated showing the suitable locations along with the
settlement names, geographic coordinates, and elevation and
population details 5
5. COCLUSIONS
Much of the information that is required for emergency
preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation including
resources allocation involve geospatial information. Geospatial
models can help predict the locations, footprints, times, and
durations of events, and the damage they may cause, so that
jurisdictions can better prepare for them. From the geospatial
perspective, preparedness objectives include identifying data
requirements, developing data sets, and sharing data across
agencies. This includes activities as basic as developing
framework data and foundation data on infrastructure, hazards
and risks, location of assets that are of use for response and
recovery. The need of the hour is organization of geospatial
data and use location information to integrate varied data
sources and make these data sets accessible for the decision
makers. The integration of geospatial information from
multiple sources, often with varied formats, semantics,
precision, and coordinate systems is a key issue. Data models,
query languages, indexes, and algorithms must be extended to
handle more complex geometric objects, such as objects that
move and evolve continuously over time. Integrating the
temporal characteristics of a geographic object into a spatial-
temporal database is challenging. Geospatial data and tools
should be an essential part of every stage of emergency
management, from planning through response and recovery to
the mitigation of future events. If future emergency responses
are to be more effective, significant investments should be
made in training of personnel, coordination among agencies,
sharing of data and tools.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors express their sincere thanks Director, NRSA for his
constant encouragement and guidance. The authors express
their gratitude to the concerned scientists at Decision Support
Centre, NRSA for providing the inputs for the preparation of
this article and to ISRO DMS programme office for their
support.
REFERENCES
Committee on Intersections Between Geospatial Information
and Information Technology, National Research Council (2003)
IT Roadmap to a Geospatial Future, National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edU/catalog/l 0661 .html
Committee on Planning for Catastrophe (2007). Successful
Response Starts with a Map: Improving Geospatial Support for
Disaster Management, National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edU/catalog/l 1793.html
Committee on Using Information Technology to Enhance
Disaster Management, National Research Council (2005)
Summary of a Workshop on Using Information Technology to
Enhance Disaster Management, National Academies Press.
http://www.nap.edU/catalog/l 1458.html
www.unisdr.org
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