Evaluating GIS for Disaster Management
Evaluating GIS for Disaster Management Bruce Kinner GEOG 596B 1
Outline z
Problem Area
z
Project Goals
z
Background
z
Methodology
z
System
z
Case Study
z
Significance & Limitations 2
Problem Area Problem Rationale Most GIS are not designed for disaster management and suffer critical design failures when exposed to a crisis.
Project Goal Develop a new method for evaluating the readiness of a GIS to handle a disaster situation. 3
Standard GIS Model
4
Disaster Management Cycle
5
GIS for Disaster Management
6
Communication • Dynamic Displays •
User controls the view
•
Intuitive Interfaces •
User can quickly master
Maximize cognition of information 7
Post-disaster z
Technical Infrastructure may no longer exist!
z
Event imagery & field data collection
z
Focused spatial analysis
8
Gap analysis •
Most GIS do not have disasters as a primary function.
•
Most disaster studies are focused on a single post-disaster response.
•
Little contribution to the preparation and mitigation phases 9
Cost/benefit analysis •
Standard applications are sufficient.
•
Justify upgrades
•
New solutions are needed.
?
$ 10
Heuristic evaluation •
Usability engineering
•
Convert subjective judgments into numeric scores
•
Rapidly determine the optimal solution
•
Test how well each topic is satisfied
11
GIS for Disaster Management Readiness Heuristic Scoring (based on Nielsen, 1994) 0 = The GIS will be unable to address this issue. 1 = The GIS may superficially address some aspect of the problem. 2 = The GIS will be able to address a small part of the problem, but there are major aspects of the problem that are not explained. 3 = The GIS will be able to address a major part of the problem, but there are some aspects of the problem that are not explained. 4 = The GIS provides a fairly complete explanation of the problem, but there is still more to the problem than is explained by the heuristic. 5 = The GIS will be able to handle this issue and provides a complete explanation of how it will handle the problem.
12
A new evaluation method •
Series of questions using heuristic scoring
•
Topic Areas include:
•
•
Hazard Analysis to identify likely disasters
•
Scenario-based disaster simulations
•
System availability and interoperability
•
Data gathering/sharing
•
Spatial analysis
•
Methods of communication
•
User interfaces and display methods
•
Costs and benefits
Answers detail current state / future state
13
Question examples •
Has necessary post-disaster data been identified, such as imagery or damage assessments?
•
Have any needed data sharing arrangements for back-ups or base data been established?
•
What data are associated with effective use?
•
What are the geographical units?
•
What form will the data have in the data model (vector/raster, file format)?
•
Has data been loaded into the system?
•
What are the primary functional operations required of the GIS 14 during a disaster?
•
What forms of spatial analysis will be used?
Case Study •
•
•
Alliant Energy •
Feb 2007 Ice Storm
•
June 2008 Flood
Score and detail the GIS •
Ranked
•
Grouped
Benefits •
Recommendations
15
Results
16
Displaying results
Comparing Two Systems
Number of Items
12 10 8 System 1
6
System 2
4 2 0 1
2
3
4
5
Score
17
Displaying results
18
Significance / Limitations •
Applicable to any GIS
•
No disaster necessary
•
Iterative approach • Dynamic nature of systems • Number of evaluators 19
Future Research •
Evaluating multiple systems
•
Ability to compare systems
•
What benefits are most commonly identified?
•
What types of displays are most desired by users?
•
What advances in spatial analysis are required to meet the needs of disaster management?
20
Questions?
[email protected]
21
Complete List of Questions for Heuristic Analysis
22
Hazard Analysis & Scenarios •
Has a Hazard Analysis Process been used to identify likely types of disasters within the scope of the GIS?
•
Have disaster scenarios been developed for each type of disaster identified in the Hazard Analysis process?
•
Has the relevant literature been reviewed for the likely types of disasters? 23
System availability •
Does the GIS have redundant access in case of the loss of the primary database?
•
Does the GIS have a backup that can operate independently of a network?
•
Is the performance of the redundant access and/or backup sufficient for effective operational use?
•
Is there any data from other systems needed during a disaster? 24
Base Data and Spatial Analysis •
Has necessary base data for disasters been identified, such as imagery or post-disaster data sets?
•
Have any needed data sharing arrangements for back-ups or base data been established?
•
What data are associated with effective use?
•
What are the geographical units?
•
What form will the data have in the data model (vector/raster, file format)?
•
Has data been loaded into the system?
•
What are the primary functional operations required of the GIS during a disaster?
•
What forms of spatial analysis will be used?
25
Communication •
Have the users of GIS information during likely disasters been identified?
•
What type of organization is using the geographical information?
•
What is the purpose for using geographical information?
•
What is the decision making level of the user?
•
What are steps of the decision making process where geographical information is to be used?
•
What is the response time of the GIS?
•
How is the task of handling spatial data organized? 26
Intuitive Interfaces and Dynamic Displays •
How will the data be represented (symbology) both in the GIS and on maps?
•
What is the form of the geographical product?
•
Why is this particular form of display useful?
•
What amount of geographic information is used?
27
Costs and Benefits •
Who receives the benefits?
•
What are the benefits?
•
How are the benefits measured?
•
What are the costs of supplying the data needed to realize the benefits?
•
Has training been completed for GIS and emergency personnel? 28
Outline z
Problem Area
z
Project Goals
z
Background
z
Methodology
z
System
z
Case Study
z
Significance & Limitations 2
Problem Area Problem Rationale Most GIS are not designed for disaster management and suffer critical design failures when exposed to a crisis.
Project Goal Develop a new method for evaluating the readiness of a GIS to handle a disaster situation. 3
Standard GIS Model
4
Disaster Management Cycle
5
GIS for Disaster Management
6
Communication • Dynamic Displays •
User controls the view
•
Intuitive Interfaces •
User can quickly master
Maximize cognition of information 7
Post-disaster z
Technical Infrastructure may no longer exist!
z
Event imagery & field data collection
z
Focused spatial analysis
8
Gap analysis •
Most GIS do not have disasters as a primary function.
•
Most disaster studies are focused on a single post-disaster response.
•
Little contribution to the preparation and mitigation phases 9
Cost/benefit analysis •
Standard applications are sufficient.
•
Justify upgrades
•
New solutions are needed.
?
$ 10
Heuristic evaluation •
Usability engineering
•
Convert subjective judgments into numeric scores
•
Rapidly determine the optimal solution
•
Test how well each topic is satisfied
11
GIS for Disaster Management Readiness Heuristic Scoring (based on Nielsen, 1994) 0 = The GIS will be unable to address this issue. 1 = The GIS may superficially address some aspect of the problem. 2 = The GIS will be able to address a small part of the problem, but there are major aspects of the problem that are not explained. 3 = The GIS will be able to address a major part of the problem, but there are some aspects of the problem that are not explained. 4 = The GIS provides a fairly complete explanation of the problem, but there is still more to the problem than is explained by the heuristic. 5 = The GIS will be able to handle this issue and provides a complete explanation of how it will handle the problem.
12
A new evaluation method •
Series of questions using heuristic scoring
•
Topic Areas include:
•
•
Hazard Analysis to identify likely disasters
•
Scenario-based disaster simulations
•
System availability and interoperability
•
Data gathering/sharing
•
Spatial analysis
•
Methods of communication
•
User interfaces and display methods
•
Costs and benefits
Answers detail current state / future state
13
Question examples •
Has necessary post-disaster data been identified, such as imagery or damage assessments?
•
Have any needed data sharing arrangements for back-ups or base data been established?
•
What data are associated with effective use?
•
What are the geographical units?
•
What form will the data have in the data model (vector/raster, file format)?
•
Has data been loaded into the system?
•
What are the primary functional operations required of the GIS 14 during a disaster?
•
What forms of spatial analysis will be used?
Case Study •
•
•
Alliant Energy •
Feb 2007 Ice Storm
•
June 2008 Flood
Score and detail the GIS •
Ranked
•
Grouped
Benefits •
Recommendations
15
Results
16
Displaying results
Comparing Two Systems
Number of Items
12 10 8 System 1
6
System 2
4 2 0 1
2
3
4
5
Score
17
Displaying results
18
Significance / Limitations •
Applicable to any GIS
•
No disaster necessary
•
Iterative approach • Dynamic nature of systems • Number of evaluators 19
Future Research •
Evaluating multiple systems
•
Ability to compare systems
•
What benefits are most commonly identified?
•
What types of displays are most desired by users?
•
What advances in spatial analysis are required to meet the needs of disaster management?
20
Questions?
[email protected]
21
Complete List of Questions for Heuristic Analysis
22
Hazard Analysis & Scenarios •
Has a Hazard Analysis Process been used to identify likely types of disasters within the scope of the GIS?
•
Have disaster scenarios been developed for each type of disaster identified in the Hazard Analysis process?
•
Has the relevant literature been reviewed for the likely types of disasters? 23
System availability •
Does the GIS have redundant access in case of the loss of the primary database?
•
Does the GIS have a backup that can operate independently of a network?
•
Is the performance of the redundant access and/or backup sufficient for effective operational use?
•
Is there any data from other systems needed during a disaster? 24
Base Data and Spatial Analysis •
Has necessary base data for disasters been identified, such as imagery or post-disaster data sets?
•
Have any needed data sharing arrangements for back-ups or base data been established?
•
What data are associated with effective use?
•
What are the geographical units?
•
What form will the data have in the data model (vector/raster, file format)?
•
Has data been loaded into the system?
•
What are the primary functional operations required of the GIS during a disaster?
•
What forms of spatial analysis will be used?
25
Communication •
Have the users of GIS information during likely disasters been identified?
•
What type of organization is using the geographical information?
•
What is the purpose for using geographical information?
•
What is the decision making level of the user?
•
What are steps of the decision making process where geographical information is to be used?
•
What is the response time of the GIS?
•
How is the task of handling spatial data organized? 26
Intuitive Interfaces and Dynamic Displays •
How will the data be represented (symbology) both in the GIS and on maps?
•
What is the form of the geographical product?
•
Why is this particular form of display useful?
•
What amount of geographic information is used?
27
Costs and Benefits •
Who receives the benefits?
•
What are the benefits?
•
How are the benefits measured?
•
What are the costs of supplying the data needed to realize the benefits?
•
Has training been completed for GIS and emergency personnel? 28
