what is crisis mapping? course hero geography 151

How does crisis mapping help local disaster relief?

Using social media, texting, and other technologies, Patrick is able to create real-time maps that help local disaster relief. Crisis map s help direct aid specifically to people or organizations requesting help. Patrick was interested in crisis mapping before he even knew what crisis mapping was.

What is the history of crisis mapping?

Crisis mapping first became popularized in the media in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake through Ushahidi (Swahili for “witness”), a tech non-profit that specializes in developing free and open-source software for information collection, visualization, and interactive mapping.

How did Patrick start mapping crisis areas?

After taking computer classes in high school and rediscovering his mapping abilities as a student at Harvard University, Patrick began getting extremely involved in mapping crisis areas.

What skills does crisis mapping engage users with?

Since it is a new field, crisis mapping engages users' existing skills, rather than field-specific skills. However, new skills are often acquired during "deployments", where a crisis mapping organization and interface is established to begin collecting data. [10] [11]

What are the components of crisis mapping?

Crisis Mapping can be described as combining the following 3 components: information collection, visualization and analysis. Of course, all these elements are within the context of a dynamic, interactive map. So I typically use the following taxonomy:

Why are crisis mapping platforms limited?

What else? Existing Crisis Mapping platforms are highly limited because the majority are only available in the English language. So I expect this to change in the near future if platforms are really to scale. The role of mobile technologies will remain center stage, of course, with more multimedia content appearing on crisis maps along with live video feeds. As a result, I also expect (and hope) to see more examples of Maptivism, i.e., tactical live mapping.

What is crisis mapping?

Crisis mapping (also known as disaster mapping) is the real-time gathering, display and analysis of data during a crisis, usually a natural disaster or social/political conflict (violence, elections, etc.). Crisis mapping projects usually allows large numbers of people, including the public and crisis responders, ...

What was the first major event to use crisis mapping?

One of the first major events to utilize crisis mapping was the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people and left homes and infrastructure badly damaged.

Why is crisis mapping important?

Crisis mapping projects usually allows large numbers of people, including the public and crisis responders, to contribute information either remotely or from the site of the crisis. One benefit of the crisis mapping method over others is that it can increase situational awareness, since the public can report information and improve data management.

What is crisis mapping?

Crisis mapping is the real-time gathering, visualizing, and analysis of data during conflict and disaster settings. With increasing use of mobile technology, internet connectivity, and social networking, information technology is playing a vital and evolving role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of disaster response. Through free and open-source software such as Ushahidi, Sahana, and OpenStreetMap, thousands of citizens from all over the world can simultaneously collaborate and contribute to the gathering of crisis information to create comprehensive, interactive, and up-to-date maps. Crisis mapping, thus, has emerged as a flexible, value-oriented tool by which emergency responders and practitioners can quickly gather, retrieve, and visualize real-time information, thereby enabling them to better prepare, mitigate, and respond to emergencies.

How did crisis mapping work?

OpenStreetMap, on the other hand, mapped out the Haitian crisis by synthesizing a comprehensive digital map of Haitian infrastructure, including roads, buildings, and camps, by crowdsourcing volunteer input gathered from satellite imagery and GPS surveys. The organization’s collective data were then used by various relief organizations, including the World Bank. [Source: MIT Center for Civic Media]

What was the main trigger that kicked off Patrick’s focus on crisis mapping?

The main trigger that kicked off Patrick’s focus on crisis mapping was the disastrous 2010 earthquake in Haiti. During that time, Patrick had close friends staying in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital and hardest-hit city.

What is disaster relief?

Noun. goods, services, or funds supplied to government groups, organizations, or individuals following a natural or manmade disaster that prevents the normal functioning of society. earthquake. Noun.

What is the meaning of "new geography"?

For him, neogeography, or “new geography,” is about “using free and open-source technologies to allow people to create their own maps.”. “People can create their own maps.

Who was the person who created the map of Haiti?

With the help of volunteers, Patrick and his friends in “snowy Boston” were able to construct one of the most detailed maps of Haiti ever created. Haitian radio stations broadcast the plea for victims to text the crisis hotline, urging them to message where they were and what they needed.

What is the Gulf War?

First Gulf War. Noun. (1990-1991) conflict in which the United States led a coalition of nations against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

What is crisis mapping?

Crisis Mapping is an evolving set of technologies and approaches, spanning a variety of disciplines, that is focused on information management, analysis, and visualization for crisis events. Fundamentally Crisis Mapping is focused on responding to humanitarian disasters; these can range from natural disasters like floods and earthquakes to ‘complex’ disasters caused by human conflict. Currently there is no defined field of Crisis Mapping, but the taxonomy of Crisis Mapping proposed by Meier and Zeimke is a good start at outlining the scope and sub-domains of the field. The First International Conference on Crisis Mapping (ICCM 2009) was directed by Patrick Meier and Jen Zeimke and therefore used the taxonomy as guide for the conference. The conference also began with a series of Ignite talks. While sitting through 24 consecutive 5-minutes talks is a bit of an overload, it effectively give everyone a common base for understanding the topics and talents in the group. The roundtable portion of ICCM 2009 was structured to address each of the taxonomy components. These roundtables started with good panels to get the ideas flowing and then opened up for everyone to participate; this created a very fluid and stimulating environment.

What is the purpose of OpenStreetMap?

State Department has been working with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) to publish current high-resolution commercial satellite imagery during humanitarian emergencies. The imagery is used to map the affected areas, and provide a common framework for governments and aid agencies to work from. All of the map data is stored in the OpenStreetMap database (http://osm.org ), under a license that ensures the data is freely available and open for a range of uses.

Overview

History

Techniques

Crisis mapping organizations

See also

Notes