A Special Issue of Geosciences: Mapping and Assessing Natural Disasters Using Geospatial Technologies

Abstract

Natural disasters, including floods, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical storms, droughts, and landslides, can cause major losses of human lives and livelihoods, the destruction of economic and social infrastructure, as well as environmental damages. In considering society, the economy, and the environment as the three main components of sustainable development, natural disasters have a negative impact on the sustainable development of human society [1]. Over the last several decades, the frequency and intensity of natural disasters have increased. According to the World Disaster Report 2011 [2], 4022 natural disasters occurred between 2001 and 2010 worldwide, and a total of 1,221,332 people were killed. Therefore, mapping and assessing natural disasters is not only an issue for consideration in the sustainable development agenda but also a cross-cutting issue relating to social, economic, environmental, and humanitarian sectors [1].A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from the natural processes of the Earth. Such processes can be efficiently investigated and well understood with modern geospatial technologies. Given the facts that some natural disasters, such as tsunamis, tornados, and earthquakes, occur in an abrupt manner and impact large areas, while others, such as floods and landslides, tend to be more easily mapped and can be predicted in advance because the vulnerable areas in which these events occur are generally known [3]. Most geospatial technologies, such as, remote sensing, GIS, GPS, and spatial statistics can be utilized in mapping, predicting, monitoring, and assessing the natural disasters. Because of their broad applicability and accessibility, geospatial technologies are valuable tools for natural hazard and disaster management. Geospatial tools are frequently used in pre-and post-disaster applications for natural disaster management [4]. Pre-disaster application efforts are associated with attempts to mitigate the vulnerability of societies to the impacts of a disaster and with strengthening preparedness to respond to a disaster when it occurs. Post-disaster application efforts are related to the response to the effects of a disaster and to the recovery toward pre-disaster conditions [5]. Coupled with geological, geomorphological, and climatological information, geospatial technologies can be substantially used in pre-and post-disaster activities, such as mapping the spatial extent of a disaster and assessing property damage and the loss of human lives.This Special Issue of Geosciences marks an important milestone by collecting and presenting contemporary applications and theoretical studies of geospatial technologies in mapping, monitoring, and assessing natural disasters. Specifically, in this issue, advanced applications and theoretical discussion of geospatial tools in natural disasters are related to mapping, monitoring, and assessing landslides before and after they occur [6][7][8], assessing and monitoring tropical storm-induced flooding and ...

A Risk-Based Approach to Shelter Resilience following Flood and Typhoon Damage in Rural Philippines

“…Abon et al [20] extend this to the development of community-based flood monitoring leading to an early warning system for flooding in the Philippines. More recently, the focus has been on highlighting the value of technological advancements in assisting hazard mapping capabilities [21], and within the Philippines, satellite imagery has been used to map both storm surge extent and associated building damage in the Tacloban region, as a result of Typhoon Haiyan [22]. Ongoing work is using new high-resolution topographic information in landslide susceptibility assessments [23] and in flood simulation models that are used to inform flood hazard maps [24] and use predictive rainfall scenarios to predict flood hazard [25].…”

A Web and Mobile GIS for Identifying Areas within the Radius Affected by Natural Disasters Based on OpenStreetMap Data

“…Also in 2017, Ruiliang Pu conducted a study about mapping and assessing natural disasters with utilize geospatial technology, including remote sensing, GIS, GPS, and spatial statistics [8].This study related to mapping, monitoring, and assessing natural disasters before and after they occur.…”

Observing Geohazards from Space

“…Readers interested in the use of geospatial and remote sensing data and methods for the investigation of natural hazards and disasters, in addition to this Special Issue, can also refer to papers published in other recent Special Issues of Geosciences such as "Mapping and Assessing Natural Disasters Using Geospatial Technologies" collecting articles published in 2016-2017 [15], "Advances in Remote Sensing and GIS for Geomorphological Mapping" published in 2015-2016 [16], "Remote Sensing and Geosciences for Archaeology" published in 2017 [17], and "Geological Mapping and Modeling of Earth Architectures" published in 2014-2016 [18].…”