Evaluation of location and number of aid post for sustainable humanitarian relief using agent based modeling (ABM) and geographic information system (GIS)

Abstract

One of the crucial phases in disaster management is the response phase or the emergency response phase. It requires a sustainable system and a well-integrated management system. Any errors in the system on this phase will impact on significant increase of the victims number as well as material damage caused. Policies related to the location of aid posts are important decisions. The facts show that there are many failures in the process of providing assistance to the refugees due to lack of preparation and determination of facilities and aid post location. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the number and location of aid posts on Merapi eruption in 2010. This study uses an integration between Agent Based Modeling (ABM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) about evaluation of the number and location of the aid post using some scenarios. The ABM approach aims to describe the agents behaviour (refugees and volunteers) in the event of a disaster with their respective characteristics. While the spatial data, GIS useful to describe real condition of the Sleman regency road. Based on the simulation result, it shows alternative scenarios that combine DERU UGM post, Maguwoharjo Stadium, Tagana Post and Pakem Main Post has better result in handling and distributing aid to evacuation barrack compared to initial scenario. Alternative scenarios indicates the unmet demands are less than the initial scenario.