Abstract:
Natural disasters are the consequences of
natural hazards. The devastation of any natural disaster
might get intensified by the unplanned rapid
urbanization in the hazard-prone areas. Although
natural hazards are inevitable, scientific knowledge and
technology can be used to minimize or even control the
damage. Geoinformation technology, which includes
Geographic Information Systems, Global Positioning
System, Satellite Communication, Remote Sensing, and
World Wide Web, can be used in natural disaster
assessment, prevention, and mitigation. The technology
is usually applied in three temporal stages of disaster
cycles: before, during, and after. The author discusses
the geospatial data needs for various disaster analyses
and presents a model to perform the vulnerability
assessment in single- or multi-hazard prone areas.
