Critical Time, Space, and Decision-Making Agent Considerations in Human-Centered Interdisciplinary Hurricane-Related Research.

Abstract

In hazard and disaster contexts, human-centered approaches are promising for interdisciplinary research since humans and communities feature prominently in many definitions of disaster and the built environment is designed and constructed by humans to serve their needs. With a human-centered approach, the decision-making agent becomes a critical consideration. This article discusses and illustrates the need for alignment of decision-making agents, time, and space for interdisciplinary research on hurricanes, particularly evacuation and the immediate aftermath. We specifically consider the fields of sociobehavioral science, transportation engineering, power systems engineering, and decision support systems in this context. These disciplines have historically adopted different decision-making agents, ranging from individuals to households to utilities and government agencies. The fields largely converged to the local level for studies' spatial scales, with some extensions based on the physical construction and operation of some systems. Greater discrepancy across the fields is found in the frequency of data collection, which ranges from one time (e.g., surveys) to continuous monitoring systems (e.g., sensors). Resolving these differences is important for the success of interdisciplinary teams in protective-action-related disaster research.