Internetworking flood disaster mitigation system based on remote sensing and mobile GIS

Abstract

Flood verification and mitigation based on ground survey has been impeded by many factors. For instance, damage assessment exclusively by onsite expedition could be delayed by restricted access, especially during heavy flooding. To devise appropriate mitigation measures, resources required to thoroughly investigate the incidents in response to disaster could be overwhelming. Moreover, inadequate equipment and non-standardized flood reporting process could also undermine the maneuver. As a consequent, rescue mission was inevitably deferred until the reported incidents had been confirmed. To address these issues, this paper presents an internetworking system for assisting flooding disaster mitigation. Its main contributions were two folds. Firstly, its data intelligent was driven by convergence of both user and official reports of flood incidents and those automatically detected from remotely sensed images. Secondly, the reliability of reported information was ensured by two-factor verification, i.e. by using a state-of-the-art deep learning strategy and by official investigations. The verified incidents were then presented in augmented graphical reports, which were practical in public inquiry and official uses in devising efficient and cost-effective disaster mitigation measures. The developed system was deployed in different cities, most affected by recent floods. Numerical and subjective assessments herein demonstrate the merits of the system.

Keywords

• flood disaster mitigation
• remote sensing
• mobile gis
• deep learning
• flood verification