Development of Disaster Information Network System in the Asian Region: Internet GIS for Disaster Information Management

Abstract

Due to recent advanced image processing technology, disaster information from satellite image data enables us to obtain various disaster information via remote sensing at anytime and place. Until this time, however, a system directly contributing to disaster management for disaster mitigation has not often been discussed. This is because much attention has been paid to technological breakthrough by satellite image data providers, and those who are working in disaster management have not been actively involved in this field. Also, it is hard to use disaster information from a satellite image for actual disaster management without overlaying it on general geographical data such as topography and natural conditions, and social data including population, buildings and infrastructure. Furthermore, the high cost and skills required for introducing Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has hindered its utilization for disaster information. Disaster management is required to deal with incidents in the real world. In this regard, GIS which can process two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional data, has a huge potential for utilization in emergency situations at the time of disasters, and can be used for evacuation planning. Nevertheless, GIS has not yet been widely used for the reasons mentioned above.