GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION BASED EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM FOR GEOLOGICAL DISASTERS

Emergency response is the critical phase in disaster management, which can save lives and reduce losses by useful, accurate, and timely information. The surveying and mapping authorities at all levels are making great efforts to meet the increasing demand for geospatial data in disaster and risk management. In this paper, it takes the Sichuan province of China as an example. It presents a geospatial information based emergency response system for geological disasters from the perspective of the provincial mapping authority. The scheme of the response system aims to solve many problems that arose in practical disaster management and to meet the requirements of public safety and government management by geospatial information and services. Built on historical experience and improved through practical application, the system has now effectively improved the workflow in all phases of emergency response. The paper discusses the critical contents of the system’s general framework in terms of emergency mechanism, GIS technology, geospatial data, emergency equipment, and professional teams. A case study is applied in this paper to explain how the system makes its function. The end of the article gives an analysis of its benefits and disadvantages and a comparison with other similar systems.