Spatial Information for Disaster Management Using Examples from Istanbul

Abstract

With the passing of each day, the catastrophe risk for urban regions of the world is increasing. Recent events in Northridge USA (1994), Kobe Japan (1995), Marmara Sea, Turkey (1999) and more recently in Sumatra (2004) and Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2006 are typical examples of what can happen when a major earthquake strikes directly under a densely populated area. Massive human casualties and loss of resources have occurred as a result of the tsunami in South-East Asia. Mega cities created by the rapid urbanization and development in unsafe areas have led to far greater losses than have been experienced in the past. Rapid response in gaining reliable and quick data in these cases is most important for aid management. The Anatolian peninsula is one of the well-known areas endangered by earthquakes. During history many dramatic examples have occurred. In these earthquakes, many people either died or were injured and a lot of damage occurred. In the Sea of Marmara, these earthquakes have also initiated tsunamis which hit the coastline and caused secondary damage. Modern technologies in combination with remotely sensed data in the GIS environment open a wide field for assisting in crisis management. The most important component of any crisis-management system is a crisis preparedness plan where especially our disciplines of photogrammetry , remote sensing , and spatial information science can contribute in many ways. Crisis preparedness plays a key role in protecting the population against disasters. All crisis-management efforts need interdisciplinary cooperation to provide sustainable help for all citizens. We aim to highlight possible contributions by examples of earthquake- and tsunami-risk for Istanbul. Some elements are referred to existing applications already installed or under construction, others are part of our own studies in Istanbul. Crisis-management systems, e.g., can be founded on three columns, the Crisis Preparedness Plan, the Early Warning System, and Rescue and Management Action. International efforts are established to combine and integrate all available data obtained during and after disasters. International cooperation has led to the newly established entity called DMISCO (Disaster Management International Space Coordination), which will be explained in this chapter.