What are communication for disaster management?
Disasters are reported of varying intensity and occurrence ranging from less frequent like earthquake, volcanic eruption to more frequent like floods, drought, cyclones, landslides besides industrial and epidemics. On a global basis it has been observed that there has been an overall increase largely due to changes in sinks of heat resulting from the overall warming in the tropics and cooling in the polar regions. Some of the resultant affects, including the man-made are reduced forest cover, advancing desert, cropland under conditions of water logging, overgrazing and increased salinization. While dealing with the disasters, one of the key element one talks about is the mitigation strategy. This means taking action to reduce the impact of disasters that can be taken prior to its occurrence. This includes preparedness and short-long term risk reduction measures. The best-known example of mitigation is that of Andhra Pradesh after 1977 cyclone wherein use of INSAT system and cyclone tracking led to early warning. The result was substantial reduction in the loss of human lives and livestock. Typically, the disaster management system addresses the three distinct phases viz pre-disaster planning i.e. early warning, during disaster activities (=response) and post disaster (includes relief, rescue and rehabilitation). Satellite communication can be used for early warning besides creating awareness and education in the disaster prone areas. One of the early warning systems developed at the center is the Digital Cyclone Warning Dissemination System (DCWDS). Such a system is being planned to be deployed at IMD, Delhi and other vulnerable areas on the coast. Communication facilities can be set up for rescue and relief operation purposes. The WLL – VSAT system has provision for handsets, which can be easily taken, inside the affected areas. Similarly, audio alarms can be sent out to selected areas using digital sound broadcast system. An interactive distance education system is available for imparting training to the staff with two-way data transmission and building up of a database at a central location. Such a system has provision for image transmission of affected areas besides facilities like video conferencing. The MSS Type C reporting terminal developed at the Centre is available for sending short messages directly through satellite. Likewise, the Sat-phones can be deployed for most effective audio communication from remote areas. In the case of the recent Bhuj Earthquake, the Center has demonstrated the setting up of a communication link between Bhuj and Gandhinagar by deploying the AES-SNG. Such a system can also send video pictures of the affected
site for online assessment/ instructions from the control center. Tele-medicine is another area wherein on line help can be provided from bigger hospitals and super specialty doctor/ s. A web camera connected to a laptop PC with uplink facility can be effectively used for tele-medicine consultation. In the response phase of a disaster, the remote sensing techniques can be used for an effective and accurate assessment of the affected area/ s. One of the earliest study in this direction was carried out by the Center was for the 1977 Andhra cyclone which caused a large-scale destruction of the coastal tracts in Krishna delta. A two-step approach using the satellite data (the then available Landsat MSS) and large scale aerial photography (1: 70,000) was used for the assessment of the damage caused including the unit cost of such a survey. The optical remote sensing data has limited application in providing such an assessment due to cloud cover associated with the cyclones and subsequent flooding. However, in recent years data from microwave sensors like Radarsat have been found extremely useful to overcome the problem of cloud cover. One such example presented here is study of progressive inundation of the East UP floods of 1998 using multidate data of Radarsat under different beam modes viz scansar narrow, SAR standard and SAR extended low. A detailed damage assessment which was made available to the district officials within a fortnight showed that a total area affected was ~5.37 lakh ha (out of this the cropland was ~3.76 lakh ha) with ~4278 villages/ settlements inundated. The unit cost of the satellite survey was found to vary from Rs. 2/- to 20/- per sq km corresponding to the resolution used. The three data sets were found to be useful in monitoring the progressive inundation. Besides the satellite, communication and education can play a proactive role in mitigation through awareness about the types of disaster and as to how prevention measures can be taken up. The people can be educated about their rights and duties as well as about the different prescription to face the situation an almost all the three phases i.e. pre, during and post disaster. Different target groups need to be addressed with different objectives and strategies of communication. The target group includes the victims of the disaster, friends and relatives of victims, government organizations/ officials, NGO’s, funding agencies, and international organization engaged in rescue, relief and rehabilitation. They all need different set of communication because each one is performing a different role. Thus, it appears that satellite communication; education and remote sensing can be very well integrated to define the Disaster Management System. Much of this is going to be realized in the ISRO’s 10th Five Year Plan. Some of the key elements addressed are creating data base of flood and cyclone prone areas, ortho-photomaps of priority cities and towns located in high risk seismic zones, improvised drought bulletins, operational system for forest fire, GIS based decision support system for disaster management. Similarly, plans that are more comprehensive are underway in the area of satellite communication and education.
Sponsered Other Popular:
1. rabindranath tagore 2. oberoi 3. lord ganesha 4. communication facilities for disaster management 5. tender 6. tata housing 7. amrita 8. anosmia 9. ifb 10. patents 11. ruby dhalla 12. filehippo 13. stepmom 14. saxy film 15. voter list gurgaon 16. amrita entrance 2009 17. stepmom movie 18. singapore stock exchange 19. rann movie 20. ragalahari 21. bluetooth hacker 22. kavita 23. sap training 24. mithrudu movie online 25. download yahoo messenger 26. i m feeling lucky 27. tocom 28. uefa champions league 2009 29. gwen stefani songs
