Disaster Early Warning Integrated Methodology of Multisource, Multiscale Measurements (DEW).

The DEW proposal intends to contribute to the management of the Early Warning Systems (EAS) related to landscape and soil ecosystems, weather driven natural hazards, including floods, mud flows, debris flows, and mass movements. The main objective of DEW is to develop methodological tools, based on multi-sensor data sources and direct observations, for evaluating trends in ecosystem modifications, and consequently produce a series of warnings of different typology, and evaluate new alarm-thresholds, which must be imbedded into the local system of population and authority warnings. Earth Multi-scale Observation data (EO), ancillary data and in-situ data for soil properties characterization will be integrated by advanced modelling techniques within an open WEB-GIS based system. A new technique for a very rapid and cost-effective soil chemical and physical property characterization is proposed, i.e. MIR-DRIFT at the moment under development in Australia and USA. Updated land use and flux connectivity maps and their changes will be provided by the integrated analysis of ancillary, EO data and in-situ data (i.e. intermediate output information layers of the system) and appropriate modelling. Such intermediate output layers of the project will allow the delivery of final outputs: updated hazard maps, obtained by the identification of sources and sinks of temporary storage and of the areas were changes in land use, flux connectivity, morphology and soil characteristics have occurred; updated vulnerability maps, obtained by the identification of suburb expansion areas, infrastructures, new attraction poles for people; updated disaster risk map(s) for events of different magnitude by comparing vulnerability maps with the hazard maps and the information of connectivity between vulnerable spots and hazard spots; alert maps linked to events of different magnitude, based on the level of risk of the disaster in combination with the level of consequence, and updated evaluation of alarm thresholds. The WEB-GIS based system will be designed to guarantee rapidly deployable and interoperable ICT based solutions for public warning and emergency management. For this purpose, the DEW project intends to establish direct links with the Coordination and Support Action addressed by the present call, FP7-ICT- 2007.6.3, Target outcome b) for the rapid adoption of standards, protocols and open architectures, in support of the INSPIRE, GMES and GEOSS initiatives