Training: Use of GIS and Remote Sensing in Disaster Risk Management

Indepth Research Services (IRES)

Mon, 2 Sep - Fri, 6 Sep 2013

Human population growth and rapid urbanization coupled with climate change are causing increased vulnerability of communities exposed to hazardous events all over the world.

Consequently, disasters are increasingly taking heavy loss of life and destruction of property. In Africa, and developing counties in general, unplanned growth and poor infrastructure both in urban and non-urban areas makes imperative that adequate preparation to reduce the impact of disasters be put in place. There is therefore great need to utilize disaster risk information in planning for effective coping mechanisms of disaster risk reduction. - Norman Kerle, ITC Netherlands, AIDA Conceptual.

Disaster risk information is spatial in nature and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) play an important role in disaster risk assessment and management. For this reason, there is a significant need to create awareness among the disaster management professionals regarding the importance of GIS usage.

Equally important is creation of awareness on the use of Open Source software solutions, both for development and management use and for GIS work to improve accessibility for people, organizations and countries with lesser means of funding GIS implementation and use. The main purpose of the course is to enhance the capabilities of executive managers and technical staff involved in disaster risk management by providing them with understanding on the use of spatial information in disaster risk management.

Participants acquire hands-on skills in application of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) in disaster risk management interventions, and learn to work with, spatial data, satellite images and Public Participatory GIS tools, that are the key to a better understanding of hazard, vulnerability and risk.  

 

TRAINING OBJECTIVES:

By completing this course, participants will be able to:

  • Evaluate the spatial data requirements in disaster risk management  
  • Use GIS and RS as a tools for hazard, vulnerability and risk (HVR) assessment
  • Use risk information in planning disaster reduction intervention through spatial multi-criteria analysis  
  • Utilize existing sources of past disaster information and elements at risk data  
  • Assess spatial data availability and understand the importance of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), for data sharing by organizations involved in disaster risk management  
  • Apply GIS and RS for designing implementations of large scale early warning systems  
  • Use participatory GIS (PGIS) at community level  
  • Application of remote sensing data and image processing techniques to monitor hazardous events and assess damage  
  • Damage assessments in order to generate information for recovery planning  
  • Evaluate Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), for data sharing by organizations involved in disaster risk management  
  • Design and implement their own GIS projects that integrate remote sensing data, GPS-based field information, and HVR models and analysis in a proper geospatial and cartographic framework
Sportsview Hotel, Kasarani
Nairobi
English