Understanding end-user needs for an efficient multi-hazard emergency management service platform design

Abstract

There is a higher concentration and impact of natural and man-made disasters which have a similar course but are nevertheless different. Current disaster management systems focus on single crisis and have the drawback that they cannot be flexibly adapted to the respective situation. The presented approach developed during the PHAROS project is to provide an integrated platform which offers tools for multi-hazard emergency management during the complete emergency management cycle. The system has a modular structure which is flexible and scalable. PHAROS assets include:(i) data collecting, processing tools, (ii) communication and alerting means, (iii) disaster prediction and assessment, (iv) decision support. We present in addition to the system description the PHAROS pilot demonstration used to evaluate the system. For this evaluation the system was adapted during the project for the forest fire case and tested in Solsona, Spain in March 2016 during a real operational prescribed burn.