Crisis management using mobile ad-hoc wireless networks

2013

Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Communication, Computing & Security - ICCCS '11, 2011

Disaster monitoring is one of the most challenging application in wireless ad hoc networks as establishing infrastructure based networks are neither feasible nor suitable in that environments. As disaster strikes suddenly therefore advance planning to anticipate and manage, is necessary to minimize its effect. With a well designed ad hoc network system, the real scenarios of post disaster could be monitored promptly, and as per that action can be taken to save the lives of victims or minimize the losses. Reliable delivery of monitoring message is one of the key requirements in disaster management systems along with energy saving. Message reliability, improves the performance of the system while energy saving prolong the life time of nodes. We design a framework for disaster management considering above requirements. We propose three scenarios for different situations considering reliability and energy efficiency. The simulation results shows the end-to-end message delivery and energy efficiency at different phase.

Expert Systems with Applications, 2011

Communication support is a serious limitation for Latin American firefighters when they deal with emergency situations. The insufficient number of radio channels and the impossibility to deliver digital information force firemen to improvise during response processes, e.g., to make decisions using their experience and poor or null supporting information. These improvised actions affect the time required to take control of an emergency, and also affect the evolution of the crisis situation. Provided most of Latin American fire companies are volunteer organizations, communication solutions that could help to overcome these problems are usually expensive for them. This article presents a low-cost mobile collaborative application, which may be used in emergency situations to overcome most of the firefight-ers' communication problems. The application, named MobileMap, is the result of the research and development work conducted by the authors, supported by a Chilean fire company, during the last three years. MobileMap allows ad hoc communication, decisions support and collaboration among firefighters in the field using mobile devices. This solution complements the radio communication systems. Since the interactions supported by MobileMap are recorded, it is possible to analyze such information after the crisis and learn for future emergencies. The tool was evaluated in simulated and real scenarios, and the obtained results are highly encouraging.

Asian Institute of …, 2007

This paper describes an emergency network platform based on a hybrid combination of mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), a satellite IP network operating with conventional terrestrial Internet. It is designed for collaborative simultaneous emergency response operations deployed in a number of disaster-affected areas. The architecture of the network called DUMBONET together with our emergency response applications are described. Experience from a real-life experimental testbed is discussed. Our implementation involves multidisciplinary research areas as MANET routing, peer-to-peer computing, sensor network and face recognition. The paper also identifies potential research challenges that we intend to investigate to further enhance the capabilities of our system.

Procedia Computer Science, 2018

In serious emergencies, as in the case of floods and extreme weather conditions, where a substantial number of people are involved and over vast areas which may also involve different provinces, currently civil protection planning carries on emergency management operations within rigid schemes. A procedure that would be capable of handling events acquiring data continuously and developing real time solutions in a highly flexible manner has not yet been proposed. This research focuses on how the systematization of information systems and communication processes can improve the management of emergencies caused by extreme weather and climate events. The objectives of improved service, levels of safety and sustainability of the intervention in emergencies would be obtained through a centralized decision support system. The system and tools that are presented in this paper aim to respond to emergency issues dynamically responding to the dynamics of the events by taking advantage of an information system capable of sharing data, notifications, service orders, appeals for help, information on the status of the transport network and any other information. The system would provide decision support by acquiring information from smartphones and other nomadic devices; it would so provide exchange of information in real time on one or more virtual platforms among stakeholders and between them and the citizens. Substantially, the system is based on smartphone applications coupled with a central management emergency Decision Support System specifically built to make best use of the possibilities offered by the latest telematics systems and cooperative web and phone-based tools.

Smart Cities, 2020

In large-scale civil emergencies such as floods, earthquakes, and extreme weather conditions, extended geographic areas and a great number of people may be affected by the unfortunate events. The wireless internet and the widespread diffusion of smart-phones and mobile devices make it possible to introduce new systems for emergency management. These systems could improve the efficiency of the interventions by transferring information between affected areas and a central decision support system. Information on the state of the infrastructures, on people displacement, and on every other important and urgent issue can be gathered in the disaster area. The central system can manage all the received information and communicate decisions back to people and also facilitate the exchange of information for different people that are still in the disaster area. This paper presents a requirement analysis for these kinds of systems. The presented analysis allows better tailoring of the features ...

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2007

This article describes an emergency communication network platform based on a hybrid combination of Mobile Ad Hoc Networking (MANET) and a satellite IP network operating with conventional terrestrial internet. It is designed for collaborative simultaneous emergency response operations deployed in a number of disaster-affected areas. The architecture of the network, called DUMBONET, and our emergency response applications are described. Experience from a real-life experimental test-bed is discussed. Our implementation involves multidisciplinary research areas such as MANET routing, peer-to-peer computing, sensor networks and face recognition. The article also identifies potential research challenges that we intend to investigate to further enhance the capabilities of our system. ) 'DUMBONET: a multimedia communication system for collaborative emergency response operations in disaster-affected areas', Int.

Dep. of Computer Science-University of …, 2011

VHF radio systems commonly used to support search and rescue activities after disasters limit the flow of information among response teams deployed in the field. It generates islands of information that jeopardizes the coordination and effectiveness of the response activities. This article proposes a communication model that uses opportunistic networks and real-time messages delivery to help address such limitation. Since the communication model is computable, it is possible to diagnose the flow of information expected for a particular work scenario. The diagnose results allow identifying elements that could help improve the information flow in such scenario. This proposal allows first responders to address the stated problem during the phases of preparedness, response and recovery from a disaster.

IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2019

From our experience the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 to help out the people in the affected area in terms of IT support such as internetworking and providing PCs, we came across an interesting issue concerning collaboration with people including supporters as well as the victims. We call this problem disaster communications. We also came to know the needs for disaster information processing as there was no such systems to manage shelters, goods distribution and volunteers. On the other hand such systems have been researched in the United States of America and Europe in terms of information processing for emergency management to a great extent. While we have had many natural disasters in Japan, only a very few of the researchers in computer science and information systems have been working on this issue. From this perspective, we try to identify the information required at disaster in this research. In particular, we explored the needs and seeds for disaster information processing in Iwate, Japan. We interviewed some supporters at Iwate in March 2011 such as local government officials, doctors and university administrators and found the situation awareness was required desperately in the beginning of the disaster. This paper reports our project of interviewing people who worked on disaster relief during the emergency response as well as our trial of a system for situation awareness based on the results from our interviews.

Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing Connecting the World Wirelessly - IWCMC '09, 2009

When stricken by a catastrophic natural disaster, emergency rescue operation is very critical to many lives. Many people trapped in the disastrous areas under collapsed buildings or landslides may have a large chance to survive if they are rescued in "Golden 72 Hours". Victims rescued from the debris and evacuated from their home jammed in shelters need life support material to support their lives. They also need to communicate to each other for various reasons. However, communication systems were usually down due to various reasons. The loss of communication systems and information networks made the rescue and relief operation extremely difficult. Many people died before they got a chance to be rescued. This paper analyzes the causes that paralyzed the entire communication systems in Jiji/Taiwan Earthquake and proposes a MANET based communication platform as well as a Rescue Information System for Earthquake Disasters that can support a large number of rescue volunteers under catastrophic natural disasters.