All disasters have a spatial nature. GIS technology can act as a decision support tool. Decision-making process can be achieved by the analysis of various GIS layers. Socio-economic and geo-spatial data is very crucial for the planning and management of disasters as well as tackling disastrous conditions. Hazard zone mapping, tackling emergency conditions and carrying out mitigation activities can be possible with much efficiency by using GIS maps. GIS and RS are much efficient and effective in mitigation strategies and preparedness plans. Real-time geo-spatial data can improve the resource allocation for response. GIS technologies are also useful in the disaster risks modelling and human adaptations to hazards. Using GIS into the disaster response framework has alleviated planning, response time, collaboration, and communication during the most dynamic testing circumstances. Extensive amount of geospatial information is required during large scale disasters in order to assess the regions affected, infrastructure loss, planning rescue and evacuation, resource requirements and distribution. Developments in GIS have provided agencies with the ability to collaborate more efficiently and effectively.
Current activities to support disaster management support are : Near Real Time Flood & Cyclone monitoring & mapping in the country, Flood Hazard/Risk Zonation for Flood prone states, Spatial Flood Early Warning, forest fire alerts, landslide zonation and inventory, agricultural drought studies and Capacity Building and institutionalization is being done to the stake holders.
National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM)
In India, NDEM essentially serves as national repository of GIS based data for entire country with multi-scale database & sets of tools for Decision Support System (DSS). the project is being executed in collaboration with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). This is aimed to support the disaster/ emergency management for the country in near real time.
NDEM is envisaged to have core data, hazard-specific data, and dynamic data in spatial form as well as textual form. Exclusive NDEM facility is established at NRSC, Shadnagar in a secured environment with necessary computer infrastructure. Value-added information derived from satellite data for the disaster events occurred during 1998-2018 were hosted on NDEM server and enabled download of the products through ISRO-DMS VPN secured network.
NDEM Dash Board is a Geo-Portal with modules for data visualisation (multi-scale geospatial data services and satellite imagery), Decision Support Tools (Customized GUI based tools for decision making), Utility Tools (GIS based tools like Distance & Area Measurement, Search etc.), Incident Reporting (Disaster event reporting through Mobile Apps, SMS, Portal), Mobile applications (Apps for Relief Management, Attribute Collection & Geo-Tagging of Facility), Interaction tools (Communication & data exchange, Audio/Video live chat among users), Data Inventory & Reports Geo-spatial data statics, charts, etc.
Visit Website - https://ndem.nrsc.gov.in/login.php
Flood monitoring, mapping and dissemination to various stakeholders can be carried out during all major flood and cyclone events and support is provided to disaster management teams in near real time during flood relief and rehabilitations activities. Satellite data from all possible acquisitions from global satellites with varying spatial resolutions can be utilized for flood mapping. Microwave satellite data is of highest use during flood occurrence and recession periods due to the limitations of cloud in optical data during cloudy conditions. Flood forecasting is one of the major activities that is initiated with hydrological modelling utilizing high resolution LiDAR DEM.
Visit Website
https://bhuvan-app1.nrsc.gov.in/disaster/disaster.php
https://ndem.nrsc.gov.in/login.php
https://www.globalfloodmonitor.org/
https://www.gdacs.org/flooddetection/
Near real time cyclone track and information on possible severity zones in view of the predicted land fall locations can be identified by the use of Geo-Spatial technology. Mapping of flood inundations due to cyclones is the major activity that is carried out to support the disaster management teams.
Mobile applications can be developed for facilitating geo tagging of several damaged assets and incident reporting. are meant for utilization by the Governments and view the data for spatial analysis
Visit Website - https://mausam.imd.gov.in/imd_latest/contents/cyclone.php
Agricultural drought assessment, planning, forecasting and monitoring can be done using Geo-spatial tech through multiple indices combing vegetation parameters, soil moisture, rainfall pattern, vegetation monitoring, evapotranspiration, NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), crop yield etc.
Geospatial technology can be used for creating an Inventory of landslides, Landslide Monitoring Landslide Detection or Investigation, Landslide Susceptibility Modelling, Landslide Deformation Monitoring, Landslide Trigger Factor Analysis and mapping of land slide hazard zones. Event based inventory, route-wise inventory, seasonal land slide inventory in hazard prone regions can also be carried out and information be generated using Multiple remote sensing techniques like SAR, optical, LiDAR, ortho-photo, and DEM obtained from spaceborne, airborne, and ground-based platforms.
Fire risk mapping is used to predict where ignition events will occur as well as how the resulting wildfire will propagate and the potential damages. Active fire detection via remote sensing can be used by fire managers and climate scientist, and policy makers to detect, monitor, and assess fire activity around the world. Detecting active fires in real time is a crucial element for management, containment as well as alerting the public to wildfires. Biomass burning emission models
Burned area estimates, Burn Severity Assessment, Post-fire monitoring of vegetation recovery, Spectral-based fuel mapping, Biomass burning emission models can be carried out using inputs from various Remote sensing sensors. Burn severity impacts vegetation mortality, soil nutrient composition resulting in increased runoff due to decreased infiltration due to soil hydrophobicity. The data obtained from Lidar tech can provide pre- and post-fire vegetation structure metrics, which can be used to assess the severity of burning by altering it to various degrees. Active fire monitoring uses satellite data from MODIS flying on the TERRA and AQUA spacecraft and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite data from the Suomi National Polar- orbiting Partnership (SNPP-VIIRS). Satellite data is received and processed at IMGEOS, NRSC in near real-time
