IJCST Vol.

4, Issue 2, April - June 2013 ISSN : 0976-8491 (Online) | ISSN : 2229-4333 (Print)

Web Based GIS for Disaster Management System

1
Manish Doshi, 2Chandresh Rathod
1,2
Dept. of CSE, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, India

Abstract A. Emergency
Natural hazards like earthquakes, floods become disaster when they Emergency is a deviation from planned or expected behavior or
knock the human environment. To downsize the impact of every a course of events that endangers or adversely affects people,
disaster, governments fix strategy, called disaster management. property, or the environment.
Availability of data such as lifeline systems, roads, hospitals and
buildings will help the managers for better decision-making. B. Disaster
This System explores fundamental principle of geography, the Disasters are characterized by the scope of an emergency. An
location is important in human life. It is used to inventory, analysis emergency becomes a disaster when it exceeds the capability of
and manage many aspect of the world and it takes number & the local resources to manage it. Disasters often result in great
words from the database & put on map. Now in this time, Many damage, loss, or destruction.
organizations which involve in disaster management, require
to access to the right data in the right time to make the right C. Risk
decisions. Using this system, managers of organizations can Risk is the potential or likelihood of an emergency to occur. For
easy access information about disaster any time and any where example, the risk of damage to a structure from an earthquake is
they are. Disaster management can be divided into four major high if it is built on or adjacent to an active earthquake fault. The
phases like: Planning, Mitigation and Preparedness are all pre- risk of damage to a structure where no earthquake fault exists
event phases, Response and Recovery are two during and post- is low.
event phases. These phases are related by time and function to
all types of emergencies/disasters. As disasters (earthquakes, D. Hazard
floods and hurricanes…) are usually spatial events so all phases Hazard refers generally to physical characteristics that may cause
of disaster management depend on data from a variety of sources. an emergency. For example, earthquake faults, active volcanoes,
So, Geographical Information System as a tool to collect, store, flood zones, and highly flammable brush fields are all hazards.
analyze and display large amount of spatially Information layers,
supports all aspects of disaster management[4].In this Proposed II. Scope
System we are going to provide geo-graphic information in case of The proposed web-based GIS is designed to work on geo graphical
various emergencies for disaster in terms of map, reports, statistics data.The system does the processing on the various maps. The
and quick response via SMS or E-mail. The proposed web-based system also includes the processing of database information which
GIS is designed to work on Geo graphical data and it will process is related to the maps.
on the various maps. It also includes the processing of database In the process of disaster management, there is a need to decide
information which is related to the maps. This GIS system not and translate the measures into action which are to be executed
provides any information regarding Pre-event phases of disaster in each stage of disaster prevention, emergency response, and
management that are Preparedness and planning. recovery and construction. The data necessary for taking actions
has been accumulated by the relevant divisions and made ready
Keywords for decision making.
Phases of GIS system, Database processing through maps and This GIS system will not provide any information regarding Pre-
reports, better decision making, geo-graphical data event phases of disaster management that are Preparedness and
planning.
I. Introduction
Geo-Information System is a System that explores fundamental III. Objective
principle of geography, the location is important in human life. Accessibility and dissemination of timely and accurate
GIS is used to inventory, analysis and manage many aspect of information.
the world. GIS takes number & words from the database & put
on map. A. Centralized Control
The map legend is the little box on the map with symbols on it to A web GIS can disseminate information from a control room which
locate where we are on the map. Basically maps are drawn using can reach everyone. Authenticity and accuracy are guaranteed.
the data stored using raster and vector methods in GIS. And when Instant Feedback and updation: The current status can be updated
user edit the symbol of legend the part of map associated to that from moment to moment.
symbol would show the changes we want to apply. Raster data
are generally in the form of the images which can’t be modified
while vector data are in the form of database which we can
modify as per our requirements. Web-GIS provide a low-cost
and rapid methodology of disaster management as well as critical
information for decision support by emergency managers and the
disaster response community. There are several terminologies
like[1]:

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ISSN : 0976-8491 (Online) | ISSN : 2229-4333 (Print) IJCST Vol. 4, Issue 2, April - June 2013

IV. GIS in Disaster Management System: Conceptual B. Safety Requirements

Framework The data handled in the GIS system is very vital. The server should
always be confirmed to run properly and the data are saved to the
database at consecutive intervals.

C. Data Retention
Updating of new data to the database is important so that exact
and correct information can be available.

VII. Flow Chart

Fig. 1: GIS framework [3]

In this system input can be taken as tabular data or maps on

basis of that GIS can analyze & visualize and generates important
information as maps, reports, statistics etc.

V. Functional Requirements
1. System provides information regarding various disasters like
its type, its group, location etc.
2. It will also give information about killed and affected zone
nearby.
3. System records the timings of disaster and gives assessment
on particular disaster.
4. Manager can view the map and relevant information about
disaster [2].

A. Earthquake
1. System provides info. About earthquake like its location and
epicenter.
2. It also gives location of safe and destructed areas for
disaster. Fig. 2: Flow chart of Disaster Post-Event Phases
3. System provides no. of hospitals and location of shelters.
4. It will also provide contact info. of various NGOs. Above flow chart depicts how events come into action once
disaster happens and planning and mitigation takes place.

B. Flood
1. System provides location of flood, safe and affected areas.
2. It will also give information about hospitals, contact no. of
NGOs, details of boats and swimmers.
3. Information about the drainage lines and river level.

C. Fire
1. System provides co-ordinate location of fire and information
about fire station.
2. Information about statistical and hazardous areas around the
place.
3. It will give information about hospitals and emergency
centres.

Fig. 3: Role of GIS Manager

VI. Nonfunctional Requirements VIII. GIS Manager

Here GIS manager/Administrator plays a major role once post
A. Performance event phases are to be taken place. Manager will interact with
90% of the responses should be within seconds, speed should be web based system (GIS) and comes out with various reports and
uniformed. decisions which have to be taken after disaster happens.

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IJCST Vol. 4, Issue 2, April - June 2013 ISSN : 0976-8491 (Online) | ISSN : 2229-4333 (Print)

Manager can select disaster affected area into system and can data is linked to the map, emergency management planning can
measure various things like distance to that affected area, no. of begin. Once life, property, and environmental values are combined
hospitals nearby, road lines,etc. He also can communicate with with hazards, emergency management personnel can begin to
local authorities via Email or SMS directly from the system. formulate mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery
program needs.
IX. Overall Description A Web-based GIS has been developed for supporting disaster
This software will work on geo graphical data and system will management. This system helps to estimate the extent and size
process on various maps. Proposed System will provide geo- of damages, just after the particular disaster. It also, helps the
graphic information in case of various emergencies for disaster. managers to rapidly response to various disasters. This takes a lot
The software is intended majorly for taking emergency steps in of advantages to the managers by decreasing the cost and response
case if disaster takes place. The user of the software can be a GIS time to make better decision during and just after the disaster.
manager and other intended users.
In addition, this proves to be a useful point of reference to compare References
actual costs as the project progresses. There could be various types [1] UNCRD’s 25th Anniversary Commemorative Program
of intangible benefits on account of automation. for GIS for Disaster Management Proceedingsof the9th
These could include increased customer satisfaction, improvement International Research and Training seminar onRegional
in product quality better decision making timeliness of information, Development Planning for Disaster Prevention
expediting activities, improved accuracy of operations, better [2] GIS Technology and Applicationsfor the Fire Service An
documentation and record keeping, faster retrieval of information, ESRI® White Paper • March 2006.
better employee morale. [3] Integrated Distributed GIS Approch for Earthquake Disaster
Modeling and Visualization Rifaat Abdalla, PhDcandidate,
GeoICTlab, Canada Vincent Tao,PhDcandidate, GeoICTlab,
Canada
[4] M. Saydi, M.J. Valadan Zoej, A. Mansourian,”Design and
implementation of a web-based GIS (in response phase)for
earthquake disaster management in Tehran city”, Commission
PS WG VII/5.

Manish Doshi received his B.Tech degree

in Computer Science & Technology from
Nirma University, Ahmedabad, India
in 2012.At present, he is working as
Software Engineer at Cybage Software
Pvt. Ltd(An CMMI level 5 & ISO
27001 Company), Pune. His research
Fig. 4: Sample Webpage of Disaster Management System interest includes Geographical systems,
Object Oriented languages, System
In above figure, district has been selected and as per requirement programming and data structures.
we can perform various operations on it and take decisions as
part of report generation.

Chandresh Rathod received his

B.Tech degree in Computer Science
& Technology from Nirma University,
Ahmedabad, India in 2012.At present, he
is working as Project Engineer at Wipro
Technologies Ltd., Bangalore. His area of
interests includes Geographical systems
and Object Oriented languages.

Fig. 5: Map Showing River Going Across the Selected Region

X. Conclusion
Emergency management programs are developed and implemented
through the analysis of information. The majority of information
is spatial and can be mapped. Once information is mapped and

426 International Journal of Computer Science And Technology w w w. i j c s t. c o m