Chapter 6 - Disaster management using unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

Effective disaster management is one of the most important challenges faced on the global scale. The inaccessibility of large parts of terrain despite the urgent need of support immediately following a disaster poses one of the major hindrances during the management process. Over the years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being used to provide aid in many disaster management operations and help increase the effectiveness of a disaster response. This chapter highlights the various uses of UAVs in disaster management applications. This has been done by grouping the existing and possible applications of UAVs based on the various roles played by them during disaster preparedness and management, namely, coverage and information gathering, resource dispatch and survivor rescue, and communication. The chapter also provides insight into the various coverage algorithms, sensing systems, and communication architectures which UAVs can potentially use in disaster management. In addition to these, the core hardware requirements of the UAVs are discussed as well as the challenges that need to be overcome in order to improve their role in disaster management operations.