First extensive and cost-effective quality check of Crisis Maps: presentation of assessment parameters and results

Abstract

The digital representation of disaster situations into maps, mainly based on remotely sensed observations, is becoming a widely used instrument for emergency management. Thousands of maps are being produced all over the world and big attention is paid by international institutions, such as the World Bank, the United Nations and the European Commission to these tools. The quality of crisis maps is a crucial element to ensure effectiveness in the disaster response chain, but it is often neglected with respect to the need for a rapid delivery. In this paper a sample of crisis maps produced between 2005 and 2010 by world leader providers has been evaluated through around 40 parameters assessed by visual analysis and extracted from the validation protocol designed at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. The maps turned out to be in most cases clearly readable, but some gaps and inconsistencies have been singled out, due to the lack of international standard references. The results are analysed in detail and some remarks are presented.