Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org ©2013 Secure World Foundation. Used with Permission Information Policy Considerations in Natural Disasters Ray A. Williamson Senior Advisor Secure World Foundation

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Outline Disaster management cycle Information needs for the cycle Information suppliers Benefits and drawbacks of sensors What do we want in information policy? What sorts of information policies do we have? 2

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Information Policy Has A Role Throughout 3 Source:

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Information Needs for Response Immediately following a disaster, need for – Accurate street maps – Assessment of conditions in affected areas Blocked streets Extent of flooding Location of collapsed buildings Functioning cell towers Where are the people and what is their condition? – Victims – First responders – Accurate information needs to be delivered quickly 4

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Recovery & Rebuilding Speed of information delivery is less critical Periodic revisit to assess progress – Which areas still need assistance – Progress on rebuilding 5

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Mitigation & Preparation Emphasis on training and capacity building Development of disaster models – E.g., flood plain maps, earthquake-prone areas 6

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Information Suppliers Government – Satellite – Airborne sensors Commercial companies – Airborne sensors – Satellite Individuals – Smart phones – Tablets 7

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org What Can Satellite Systems Do…Or Not? Advantages – Synoptic view – Repeatability Disadvantages – Coverage – Resolution – Lack of timeliness of information delivery – Cloudcover (for electro-optical systems) – Complexity of interpretation (for radar) 8

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Airborne Systems Advantages – Can be deployed quickly to specific region – Very high resolution (cm sharpness) – Variety of sensors Photographic Lidar SAR – Fly below clouds Disadvantages – Lack synoptic view – Lack uniform landscape illumination 9

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Smart Phones, Tablets Advantages – Portable – “On the scene” – Very high resolution – Very timely information – Photo, voice, text together Disadvantages – Very limited geographical scope – Depend on local communication links 10

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org What Do We Want in an Information Policy? For response, ability to deliver accurate information of affected site quickly and efficiently – Satellites only provide data; information must be supplied by value-added entity Ability to share information across entities Mechanisms to validate crowdsourced information 11

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org What Information Policies Do We Have? Patchwork of policies, but moving in direction of open data policy, especially for response phase and for data supplied by governments. – Open data policy implies free or very low-cost data and ability to share freely Still, licensing restrictions on data from private suppliers reduces flexibility in dealing with natural disasters, especially in the recover and rebuilding phases. 12

Promoting Cooperative Solutions for Space Sustainability swfound.org Thanks! Questions? 13