Geomatics In Tsunami

Contributed articles; chiefly with reference to India.

Effective utilization of satellite positioning, remote sensing, and GIS in disaster monitoring and management requires research and development in numerous areas, including data collection, information extraction and analysis, data standardization, organizational and legal aspects of sharing of remote sensing information. This book provides a solid overview of what is being developed in the risk prevention and disaster management sector.

This book is a collection of contributions from experts involved in tsunami study for the purpose of covering the different aspects from a tsunami at a local level, population health related to a tsunami disaster and early warning systems at a country level. The presented chapters, after being peer-reviewed, have been recommended to be accepted for publication. The content of the book consists of an introductory section that deals with the lessons learned from past tsunamis and today’s practice; the monitoring of tsunami damage using the polarimetric microwave remote sensing technique, and considering the local tsunami on Pakistan’s coast; the outbreak of devastating earthquakes; health consequences and medical provisions for the population and finally the risk of tsunamis in Mexico

December 2004, a tsunami swept over the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and other South Asian countries, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and many more without the resources to rebuild their lives. With casualties as far away as Africa, the aftermath was overwhelming: ships could be spotted miles inland; cars floated in the ocean; legions of the unidentified deadùan estimated 225,000ùwere buried in mass graves; relief organizations struggled to reach rural areas and provide adequate aid to survivors. The Indian Ocean Tsunami: The Global Response to a Natural Disaster is the first comprehensive assessment of the environmental, social, and economic costs of this tragedy. Soon after the tsunami, an international team of geographers, geologists, anthropologists, and political scientists traveled to the most damaged areas to observe and document the tsunami's impact. The Indian Ocean Tsunami draws on data collected by this team. Editors Pradyumna P. Karan and Shanmugam P. Subbiah, along with contributors from multiple disciplines, examine numerous issues that arose in the aftermath of the tsunami, such as inequities in response efforts, unequal distribution of disaster relief aid, and relocation and housing problems. The Indian Ocean Tsunami is organized into several sections, the first of which deals with the ecological destruction of the tsunami. It includes case studies and photographs of the damage in Japan, Indonesia, South India, and other areas. The second section analyzes the economic and social aspects of the aid responses, specifically discussing the role of NGOs in tsunami relief, the strengths and weaknesses of the reconstruction process, and the lessons the tsunami offers to those who are responsible for dealing with future disasters. In the tsunami's aftermath, the inadequacies of governmental and privately funded aid and the challenge of rehabilitating devastated ecosystems quickly became apparent. With this volume, Karan and Suhbiah illuminate the need for the development of efficient, socially and environmentally sustainable practices to cope with environmental disasters. They suggest that education about the ongoing process of recovery will mitigate the effects of future natural disasters. Including maps, photographs, and statistical analyses, The Indian Ocean Tsunami is a clear and definitive evaluation of the tsunami's impact and the world's response to it.

The major challenges of the 21st century faced by human beings are how to achieve water security, food security, energy security and environmental security. Owing to enhanced natural/anthropogenic disasters worldwide, these challenges become much more complicated and daunting especially for developing countries. Therefore, it is important to highlight the risk of different disasters as well as the modern tools and techniques for minimizing disaster incidence and losses. Disaster management being highly multidisciplinary in nature, a comprehensive book dealing with different aspects of disaster management, and encompassing important disasters faced by humankind is presently not available. This book is an attempt to fulfill this gap. It provides clear, comprehensive, and up-to-date information about different facets of disaster management along with salient case studies. The book highlights the current status of disaster management focusing on developing nations, discusses vital issues such as climate change and sustainable development, modern approaches and tools/techniques, and the challenges of and future R&D needs for sustainable disaster management.

The innovation in space technologies has generated a new method for observing and monitoring tsunamis from space. Most tsunami remote sensing studies focus on using classical image processing tools or conventional edge detection procedures. However, these methods do not use modern physics, applied mathematics, signal communication, remote sensing data and innovative space technologies. This book equips readers to understand how to monitor tsunamis from space with remote sensing technology art to create a better alarm warning system.

This volume, derived from the 1999 International Tsunami Symposium, presents a unique look at the state of tsunami research at the end of the 20th century. It displays recent progress both in data recovery and reconstructions of historical tsunamis and in detail examination of recent disasters. It shows the tsunami community using both traditional methods of data gathering - searching archives and attempting to simulate past events - and integrating modern technologies - side-scan sonar, GPS, global communications, supercomputers - in the quest to understand tsunamis and improve mankind's ability to mitigate the disastrous consequences of these unpredictable and unstoppable events. It chronicles recent advances in mitigation efforts while illuminating the continuing need for increased efforts. The papers range from descriptive texts for the non-specialists to fairly technical discussions for those familiar with tsunami research. Audience: This book will be of interest to researchers and graduate students involved in natural hazards research, physical oceanography, seismology, environmental impact assessment and risk assessment.

With recent innovations in the arena of remote sensing and geographic information systems, the use of geoinformatics in applied geomorphology is receiving more attention than ever. Geoinformatics in Applied Geomorphology examines how modern concepts, technologies, and methods in geoinformatics can be used to solve a wide variety of applied geomorph