Development of a methodology for real-time retrieving and viewing of spatial data in emergency scenarios

Ahmed Alamouri,Mohammad Hassan,Markus Gerke

doi:10.1007/s12518-021-00389-w

Ahmed Alamouri, Mohammad Hassan + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12518-021-00389-w

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Journal: Applied Geomatics	Publication Date: Aug 6, 2021
Citations: 3	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Technische Universität Braunschweig

Abstract

Quick response in emergency situations is crucial, because any delay can result in dramatic consequences and potentially human losses. Therefore, many institutions/authorities are relying on development of strategies for emergency management, specially to have a quick response process using modern technologies like unmanned aerial vehicles. A key factor affecting this process is to have a quick geo-situation report of the emergency in real time, which reflects the current emergency situation and supports in right decision-making. Providing such geo-reports is still not an easy task because—in most cases—a priori known spatial data like map data (raster/vector) or geodatabases are outdated, and anyway would not provide an overview on the current situation. Therefore, this paper introduces a management methodology of spatial data focusing on enabling a free access and viewing the data of interest in real time and in situ to support emergency managers. The results of this work are twofold: on the one hand, an automated mechanism for spatial data synchronization and streaming was developed and on the other hand, a spatial data sharing concept was realized using web map tile service. For results assessment, an experimental framework through the joint research project ANKommEn (English acronym: Automated Navigation and Communication for Exploration) was implemented. The assessment procedure was achieved based on specific evaluation criteria like time consumption and performance and showed that the developed methodology can help in overcoming some of existing challenges and addressing the practically relevant questions concerning on the complexity in spatial data sharing and retrieval.

Highlights

In every moment during disasters and emergencies, the situation can rapidly change and it is to expect that a large amount of spatial datasets containing a large number of files and object information can be obtained, stored and analyzed, especially if multi-sensors like RGB, thermal cameras and LiDAR, as well as different platforms likeUAV and a ground-based UGV are used
The main priority was to design a proficient spatial database concept based on the needs and responsibilities of the resource specialists and managers working in the emergency sector; definition and characterization of these responsibilities have been addressed by another contribution introduced by Alamouri and Gerke (2019)
In the ANKommEn study case, datasets have specific classifications and data structure, which imposed critical emphases, which were respected in the client interface design in order to support users in terms of data selection, retrieval and viewing, for example how to search the data through the web browsers and which parameters should be defined by user to get the Number of images used

Summary

Introduction

In every moment during disasters and emergencies, the situation can rapidly change and it is to expect that a large amount of spatial datasets containing a large number of files and object information can be obtained, stored and analyzed, especially if multi-sensors like RGB, thermal cameras and LiDAR, as well as different platforms likeUAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and a ground-based UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) are used. From a logical point of view, datasets were classified based on some criteria such as data type, capturing date and time, for example RGB/thermal images, orthophotos, DSMs and UAV/UGV-based LiDAR.

Results

Conclusion