Application of GIS in Disaster Management

Author: Abdullah Aziz

There are numbers of natural disasters that might occur in almost all countries such as flood and cyclone. They often cause a big loss in economy and at the same time taking too many people’s lives as well. In most situations, these types of disasters happen most of the time. Thus, a timely response from the monitoring and the assessment system is very important. Researches can deal with this through GIS Research. By creating and implementing through GIS Center, a well-planned strategy for disaster mitigation, human casualties and loss in economics could be reduced dramatically. By using a little amount of time which is available before the disaster occur sufferings of the people who lives in the area could be lessen with a great difference. If you realize all of the benefits of the strategies for disaster management including the cost effectiveness, measures can be a huge part of the national policies on several countries. Remote Sensing (RS) or geographic Information System (GIS) are known to be an excellent tool for the disaster management strategy in several countries.

GIS is a computer-based system which is utilized in storing and manipulating the geographic information. At the same time, this can also be used as a tool to correlate geographic information for the purpose of creating and implementing various strategies in coping up with various disasters like cyclones and flood. This is how GIS center use them. If you consider both of the potential of remote sensing and GIS, there can be a lot of stuff that could be lessen and prevented. GIS could be really effective when it comes to forecasting natural disasters like cyclone and flood in a specific area by using prior information and create commensurate strategies.

In connection, Geographic Information Systems gives an important decision support when it comes to disaster management and analytical capabilities. At the same time, professionals for homeland security will greatly benefit from the interdisciplinary understanding when it comes to this matter and how GIS is related to disaster management, practice and policy. GIS for Disaster management guides the readers about the basics of Geographic Information Systems as this applies to the practice of disaster management at GIS center.

In addition, this keeps the information in various layers and this is also generating different combinations which pertains to the requirement of decision-making GIS has already emerged as an efficient tool in relation to management of disasters because socio-economic and geo-spatial information has to be combined for a better decision making to handle a disaster or when it comes to planning in handling a disaster in a more effective way. At the same time, GIS can be used by the various lines of agencies and departments who are a stakeholder in the process of disaster management. Some of the basic hardware like network systems, printer, computer system, together with the GIS software is all required to set up for GIS in any organization like GIS center.

Moreover, Geographic Information Systems software was created for disaster management system. This system is capable of handling and extracting information from the satellite images and storing out information in databases for GIS center.

By Abdullah Aziz, working as content writer and have good in depth knowledge about GIS Projects. Visit: http://www.gistic.org/