Title: Uses, Roles, And Likely Impacts Of Emerging Earth Science Technologies For Disaster Management
Presenting Author: John Evans
Organization: Global Science and Technology

Abstract:
Natural hazard assessment, warning, and decision support for disaster risk management rely increasingly on remotely sensed observations, numerical models, and related earth science technologies. In this space, several emerging earth science technologies may prove to be "game-changers": for example, ubiquitous environmental sensors provide large new data streams; mobile applications and location-based services facilitate "crowdsourced" measurements and analysis; unmanned aerial vehicles afford new observation capabilities; cloud computing permits highly scalable processing on demand; semantic services facilitate collaboration; "Big Data" algorithms may reveal new patterns. We are investigating the uses, roles, and likely impacts of these and other technologies in typical disaster management activities (hazard detection and warning; data acquisition, modeling, and analysis; end-user access and dissemination) related to various types of hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, windstorms, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, drought, and landslides).