Special Issue on Application of GNSS for Mitigating Natural Disaster

Abstract

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has been utilized in a variety of research fields within the geosciences. This research has been further developed for application to hazard monitoring and natural disaster mitigation. Some developments have even been implemented in society in countermeasures against natural disasters. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), for example, has established a nationwide GNSS network called GEONET. The data from GEONET are used extensively among researchers and practitioners, not only for basic research but also for the development of methods and systems that can mitigate disasters. This special volume is a collection of articles that discuss how such methods and systems are now being developed and/or planned to both clarify the mechanisms behind natural hazards and mitigate the damage they may cause. The volume consists of 13 papers covering a wide range of natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, crustal movements, tsunamis, ionospheric disturbances, and volcanic eruptions. Some papers help us to understand how natural hazards behave, which should be the first step toward disaster mitigation. On the other hand, other articles report direct efforts made toward providing early warnings of impending disasters. Disaster mitigation systems may require real-time (and even kinematic with high-rate data sampling) processing and dissemination of data. Moreover, some applications involve data collection from coastal waters and the open sea. Now that the density of GNSS stations has approached saturation on land, the scarcity of data collected offshore will have to be rectified through the development of GNSS systems in the ocean. We do hope that this volume will be a step in the further progress of utilizing GNSS for disaster monitoring and mitigation in the future to make society safer and more secure.