3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

3-5. Internet GIS
3-5-1. Objective
The objective of the Geographical Information System (GIS) is to make full use of spatial
data (data input and output, analyses, storage, and updating) beyond the limits of conventional
paper maps. The term“spatial data” consists of “geographical data” and “attribute data.”
Geographical data relate to distribution, locations, and configurations of topographic features(elevations, rivers, etc.), and features of human activities and social environments (railroads,
roads and streets, buildings, land use, vegetation and population), while attribute data consistsof attributes (name, class, numerical value, etc.) of such feature items. A GIS has various
functions that help users to make decisions and to perform environmental or disaster impact
assessments. Such functions includes: visualization using selective overlay of spatial data or bylegends (classifiers), statistics processing using spatial analyses, extraction (buffering) of
disaster-affected areas, and selection of shortest paths. Usually, to use GIS resources, dedicatedhardware, software and databases are necessary. A Web-based GIS has the advantage that it canbe devised to enable analysis, display and acquisition of data using the Internet without
requiring the user to install special GIS software. This point is a very important in the handlingof disaster information, because it helps reduce equipment investment and facilitates
information sharing.
The member countries of ADRC still differ greatly in the degree of Internet availability.
However, it is certain that Internet user populations will increase in these countries, along withthe diffusion of faster and cheaper connection services. Moreover, the problem of unavailabilityof fixed-telephone lines is steadily diminishing thanks to the ongoing pervasion of the satellite
Internet connection technology. Thus, Internet GIS resources can be expected to increase its
importance as a disaster risk management system in an emergency.

3-5-2. Development "VENTEN (Vehicle through Electronic
Network of disasTer gEographical informatioN)"
3-5-2-1. Background to the Development of "VENTEN"
Recent advancements in image possessing technology have greatly improved the reliabilityof satellite image data (in terms of accuracy and resolution), laying the groundwork for
applying various data, which are extracted using remote sensing technology that eliminatesspatio-temporal limitations, to disaster reduction. At present, however, the use of systems
having direct applicability to disaster reduction is still very limited. One of the main reasons forthis is the fact that a disproportionately large emphasis has been placed on technologicalbreakthroughs by satellite image providers while disaster management practitioners have notbeen actively involved. Another reason is the technical difficulty of direct application of data
extracted from satellite images to disaster reduction activities. Such data do not become usablefor disaster reduction until they are analyzed in combination with natural environment data (e.g.,
topography and geology), and social environment data (e.g., population, buildings, andinfrastructures). A yet additional and large preventive factor for the application of satellite
imagery to disaster reduction is the simple fact that it takes huge costs and high technologicalcapabilities to implement a Geographical Information System (GIS) as an analysis platform forsuch spatial data.
At the First ADRC International Meeting held February 16 to 18, 1999, a workshop wasorganized under the theme of “Utilization of Technologies.” Discussions at the workshop
revolved around the use of GIS and remote sensing technologies for disaster reduction.
Conclusions of the workshop are as follows:□ Conclusion 1: All member countries recognize the importance and value of GIS and remotesensing technologies, and the advantages of information management.
□ Conclusion 2: Future tasks include: real-time acquisition of satellite images, cost reduction
in satellite data acquisition, technological support for introduction of GIS and remote

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3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

sensing technologies, and establishment of technologies for extracting disastermanagement information.
Thus, disaster management agencies of member countries showed strong interests in GIS andremote sensing technologies. At the same time, however, it became clear that enormous initialcosts and the required technical standards presented the obstacles to the use of thesetechnologies. Also blamed were the high usage costs for satellite image and map data.
To solve these problems, ADRC developed VENTEN (Vehicle through Electronic Networkof disasTer gEographical informatioN), an Internet-based disaster management GIS that can beaccessed by anyone from anywhere, using the rapidly expanding Internet. The basic frameworkof this system was developed as part of the “Asia Disaster Information Network System
Development Research” project funded by the Japan Science and Technology Corporation(September 1998 – September 2001).

3-5-2-2. Outline of “Development Research on the Disaster
Information Network System in Asian Region”
Granted funds from the Japan Science and Technology Corporation (ACT-JST segment:
environment and safety), ADRC conducted a three-year “Asia Disaster Information Network
System Development Research” project from September 1998 through September 2001. AnInternet-based GIS disaster information system, “VENTEN” (Vehicle through Electronic
Network of disasTer gEographical informatioN), was developed as part of the project.
The two main achievements of the project include:□□

Construction of VENTEN – an internet GIS platform for disaster management
information acquisition, andDevelopment of the database on disaster management information

The issues that require further development include:□□□

Expansion and enhancement of the database
Development of satellite data application technologies
Interactive transmission of real-time disaster information

Study papers on this project have been compiled into the “Final Report on Development
Research for Asia Disaster Information Network System ‘VENTEN’” (ISBN 4-901614-01-0).

3-5-2-3. Objective of the development of "VENTEN"
The objective of the development of the VENTEN system is to provide both a system anddata (including analysis results). This system is designed to be readily used with a personal
computer connected to the Internet and installed with a WWW browser.
Although various organizations were already providing, free or at cost, not only basic map
data including topographic and natural environment information, but also GIS data, it wasnecessary to convert the data format to the requirements of the GIS software in use in order toview and analyze these data. Therefore, in the development of the VENTEN system, various
GIS data were converted into a VENTEN-compliant format to enable an integrated
management of these data and the hardware.

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3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

Fig. 3-5-2-1 illustrates thefunctional
positionofthe
VENTEN system in disaster datacollection. On the left side of the
Figurearedata
supplierorganizations including various
space research and development
institutes and aerial photograph
VENTEN Systemlaboratories, from which theoriginal primary data are provided.
In order to extract useful
information for disaster reduction
from these primary data, a wide
range of data processing tasks anddata analyses are required. Also
necessary are channels to send datathus extracted to working-leveldisaster management personnel.
Fig. 3-5-2-1 Function of VENTEN
Disaster management researchers
can browse and analyze data
available from the VENTEN system, as well as feedback the results. The VENTEN system
serves as a database and analysis tool for remote sensed disaster data, and provides acommunications channel to disaster management personnel. Thus, the VENTEN system allows
effective application of disaster-related information obtained using remote-sensing and GIS
technologies to the practical aspects of disaster reduction, including disaster reduction planningand support to frontline relief operations.

3-5-2-4. Overview of "VENTEN"
1)
Configuration

W eb S e r v e r

Users

Wi nd ow s NT I I S

G IS Se r ve r

RequestThe VENTEN system consists of a Web
server, a GIS server, and a database server.
Fig. 3-5-2-2 shows the information
processing flow in the VENTEN system.
First, an access request from the user is
accepted by the Web server. The Web
server specifies the necessary information,
including the kinds of geographical data
and the extents of areas, to the GIS server(multiple geographical data can be
specified as required). The GIS server
extracts the relevant data from thegeographical data it stores (referring to thedata server if necessary), and then uploads
the data to the Web server in the form ofraster images. The Web server adds otherelements, such as a country selection
menu, disaster management information
selection menu, show/hide toggle button,scale and area management button, andthen maps these elements and the raster
image data provided by the GIS server
onto a hypertext file, which is sent to the
user.

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In fo rm at ix & Ca d Co rp
SI S on W ind ow s NT
Mi cr os o f t A ct iv e
Se rv er P age
Co mm an d Re q u e s t

B i t m a p I m ag e

D B S er v er

Fig. 3-5-2-2 Process flow of VENTEN

Fig. 3-5-2-3 Top Page of VENTEN

3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

Moreover, to make the system souser-friendly that even first-time users
can operate it easily, the main page is so
designed that the user can jump fromthere to the online manual, tutorials anddatabases (Fig. 3-5-2-3). The system
can also display Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index (NDVI) images, andland elevation map images. Fig.
3-5-2-4 shows the start page of the
VENTEN system.
There are several types of Internet
GIS systems. Some operate withspecialapplication
programs
downloaded by the user, and others
allow only viewing of image
map-based geographical data. The
Fig. 3-5-2-4 Start Page of VENTEN
method adopted for the VENTEN
system falls between the two types in terms of functions. In other words, the user canmanipulate vector data on the VENTEN system, but can obtain only raster data based on thevector data. Although this restricts the user in data acquisition, the method allows avoiding the
problem of differences in response between different network environments, and the copyrightissues of the data. In discussions on Internet GIS systems, the central issue is always the
network traffic load of data transmission. As far as the VENTEN system is concerned, this is
not so much of a problem. The VENTEN Web server does not do anything more than justtransmit fixed scale images of 470 x 470 pixels to the center of the active window of its clientmachine. This system needs a longer time in calculation on the server side than in datatransmission, which means that the network conditions between the VENTEN Web server andthe user terminal unit hardly affect the efficiency of the VENTEN system. Of course, it is only
raster data that reach the user, but the system makes it seem to the user that he is directly
manipulating a vector data when it actually is a raster data.

2)

Functions
VENTEN has a standard set of GIS
functions: "display of selected areas at
preferred scales", "buffering", "overlaying,"and "search by location and attribute". Fig.
3-5-2-5 shows a buffer area and the
populations of cities in the area. The buffer
has a radius of 50 km with Narita
International Airport at the center. The names
and populations of the cities in the area aredisplayed as extracted data in the table. The
shortest route analysis function helps
determine the shortest route for evacuation ortransportation of supplies. More specifically,
when a data extraction process is performed
with the source of the supplies specified as thestarting point S and the affected zone as thedestination E, the shortest route is selected outof many possible routes and displayed as abold line (Figure 3-5-2-6). This function isuseful for searching the shortest route. Usedin combination with the buffering function, it
also functions as a practical tool for searching
detour routes to avoid affected zones.
As described above, the VENTEN system

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provides only raster data to the user terminal
unit, but it accepts requests from the user toperform various processes on the vector datastored in the server.

3)

Fig. 3-5-2-5 Designation of a 50 km range
from Narita Airport as Buffer on VENTEN(top) and Results of the Calculation ofPopulation in the Buffer Area (bottom)

Data
The VENTEN GIS database covers themember countries of ADRC (24 countries, as ofthe end of March, 2003). These data are divided
into two main categories: general basic map data
(e.g. topography and natural conditions), which
are not specifically collected for disastermanagement
purposes,anddisastermanagement-related
geographicaldata
containing maps overlain with disaster
information.
In 2002, basic map data of non-member Asian
countries were incorporated into the VENTEN
database, because it is undesirable that there areareas left with no basic map data, when
Fig. 3-5-2-6
considering the possibility that a natural disaster
Analysismay occur at a border area between a member
country and a non-member country (see Fig. 3-5-2-7).
① Basic map data
A fixed menu box is provided at the rightbottom of the VENTEN screen to select theShow/Hide option for basic map data.
See Fig. 3-5-2-8 and Tables 3-5-2-1 and
3-5-2-2 for the basic map data available as ofnow.

Result of the Shortest RouteFig. 3-5-2-7 A screen shot of a basic
map data (top), and an enlarged map
with Vegetation Index image data
overlain on the basic map data (bottom)

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3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

Fig. 3-5-2-8 Area Covered with VENTEN Basic MAP Data (Dark Areas)

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3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

Table 3-5-2-1 Basic Geographical Data (Vector Data)

File name

Description

Data structure

AEPOINT

Airports

Point

CLPOINT

Cultural facilities

Point

DNAREA

Rivers (polygon)

PolygonDNLINERivers (line)Line

LCAREA

Land coverage

Polygon

POAREA

Shorelines

PolygonPPPOINTCity names

Point

RDLINE

Roads and streetsLine

RRLINE

Railroads

Line

TSLINE

Transportation facilities (line)Line

TSPOINT

Transportation facilities (point)

Point

Table. 3-5-2-2 Basic Geographical Data (Image Data)

Image file name

Description
Shadow image data

Relief(Switchable between the two scale levels)

DEM

Elevation image data

Vegetation July, 1998

Vegetation index image data (Summer)

Vegetation Dec., 1998

Vegetation index image data (Winter)

Data structure

Raster(approx. 10km
resolution)
Raster(approx. 1km
resolution)
Raster(approx. 10km
resolution)
Raster(approx. 15km
resolution)
Raster(approx. 15km
resolution)② Disaster management geographical data
• Damages to housing around Nishinomiya Station by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in
1995• Damages to housing in each district analyzed on the basis of survey results of the Great
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 (source: Building Research Institute, Ministry ofConstruction, Japan)• Areas affected by Chang Jiang Flood in 1998
• Distribution of active faults (Japan, Eastern region of Nepal, and Sakhalin (Russia))

3-5-2-5. "VENTEN"-related Future Development Plans
1)

Basic Map Data
In principle, basic map data currently integrated into VENTEN are based on source maps
with a scale of 1:1,000,000. However, the desirable scales for the Geographical Survey
Institute’s national basic maps would be 1:50,000 to 1:25,000. For maps to serve practical
purposes in city planning (including disaster preparedness plans) or in disaster management and８３

3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

emergency response activities, their scales should fall within the range of 1:5,000 to 1:2,500, atleast. At present, however, it is impossible to integrate map data into the VENTEN system atthese scales (Few Asian countries have such detailed digital map data, and, from theperspective of disaster reduction, it is impractical to create such map data for uninhabitedregions.). When geodetic satellite technology makes it possible to create, update, anddisseminate high-resolution GIS data, the VENTEN system should incorporate such data.
ADRC will continue to upgrade and update geographical data as required.

2)

Disaster Management Geographical Data
In Asian countries, data on active fault distribution are extremely important in earthquake
disaster reduction. However, there are many difficulties associated with collection of actual
data due to severe natural environment conditions, or economic and technical limitations. In
cooperation with researchers of active faults in Japan, ADRC has been promoting an aerial
photographic database project to realize stereoscopic detection of exposed active faults in somemember countries highly prone to earthquake disasters. This method has the advantage ofallowing detection of potential active faults without the need of conducting on-site geologicalinvestigations. Such a macroscopic approach to geological structures helps to avoid local
disturbances and detect active faults that field surveys alone could leave unnoticed. ADRC isinvestigating how to incorporate data thus collected into the VENTEN system.
It is also necessary to extend GIS data collection to other kinds of natural disasters such as
tidal waves, floods, volcanoes, landslides and droughts, in addition to earthquakes. ADRC willconsider doing so with a view to integrating data it possesses into databases created by externalorganizations.
It is also important to incorporate disaster management-related and damage-related
information, such as hazard maps, early warnings, and actual damage data, into public domain
GIS databases accessible through the VENTEN system. There are various maps publicly
available today, but few of them are available in the form of GIS data. ADRC will launch a pilot
program to collect data for the integration of hazard maps and other disaster management data
into the VENTEN system.

3)

Cooperation with Satellite Data Providers
ADRC is currently conducting a research project on the construction of a disastermanagement information network utilizing high-speed Internet satellite (WINDS: Wideband
InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite), remote sensing and mobile
technologies, in cooperation with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), theCommunications Research Laboratory (CRL) and Diamond Air Service Inc. (DAS). The
purpose of this project is to make it possible to transmit real-time image data from aircraft
equipped with high resolution cameras to ADRC (or the disaster management headquarters)
when a severe disaster occurs in Asia and other regions, so that ADRC can disseminate theinformation from its Website to facilitate sharing of disaster information and promotion ofinternational emergency response activities. It is also considered possible to transmit
photographic images captured on-site real-time to distant locations for assessing building
collapse hazards.
Needless to say, all these visual data should be incorporated into GIS databases, and further
research is necessary to investigate how to incorporate these data into the VENTEN system.
The launch of WINDS is planned for 2005, and another land observation satellite (Advanced
Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)) is scheduled to be launched in 2004. ADRC is studying
methods of using data from ALOS for the VENTEN system. The ALOS project has beenpromoted with a view to making contributions to the Global Mapping Project(http://www.iscgm.org). ALOS is expected to facilitate global sharing of high-resolution map
data.

4)

Improvement of User Interfaces and Functions
The current VENTEN system still has some points to be improved in terms ofuser-friendliness: Help pages, instruction manuals, and tutorials need to be improved. It is also
necessary to use questionnaires and opportunities such as workshops in order to systematically

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3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

identify and incorporate the needs of end-users into the improvement of the VENTEN system.

3-5-3 Toward Wider Use of Disaster Management Internet GISADRC will closely observe current and future developments in the relevant fields, and seize
opportunities to further promote the use of its disaster management Internet GIS in Asia.

3-5-3-1 Creation, Distribution and Use of Hazard Maps
It seems that cities around the world have been increasing their vulnerability to disasters
because of rapid development, urbanization, and population growth since the second half of the20th century. As for earthquakes, capitals and major cities of countries in Asia, including
Teheran, Istanbul, Kathmandu, Manila, Ulan Bator, Tokyo, and Yokohama, have conducteddamage assessments. Asian countries have also been committed to creating flood hazard maps.
As for forest fires, the ASEAN countries, for example, have developed an Internet GIS network
to share hazard data collected using satellite imagery and observation.
It is important to study and implement the methods of integration of hazard maps into city
planning (disaster preparedness), zoning, building standards, and disaster awareness raising
activities targeting citizenry from various perspectives including international cooperation,
central government policies, and local community activities. It is not enough that the
government provides hazard maps to citizens. A mechanism should be devised that can
incorporate citizens’ view points into data updating. Equally important are multilateral
information exchange among relevant ministries and agencies, cooperation among the public,
private, academic and NGO sectors, and disaster education curricula for schools. A disastermanagement Internet GIS that anyone can readily access is indispensable for all these purposes.

3-5-3-2 Integration of Mobile Telecommunications with Disaster
Management Internet GIS
Mobile phone networks can be developed with smaller initial investment than fixed
telephone networks. Therefore, mobile phone networks are rapidly expanding in Asian
countries, developing countries in particular. According to some estimates, the world’s mobile
phone user population will exceed two billion persons in 2005. There are already manysuccessful cases of transmission of early warnings and disaster emergency information using
wireless telecommunications technologies such as cell-phone short mail services. The ongoing
diffusion of broadband connections will influence the way mobile phones are used. It will
become more common than it is today to use mobile phones for interactive transmission ofimage data in addition to text and voice data.
To display GIS data on the small screen of a mobile phone, it will be necessary to develop a
new data format different from existing Internet GIS data formats, as well as a whole new set ofdata. Therefore, it is likely that mobile phone-based GIS data will first become available formajor cities and surrounding areas. It is also important, in terms of cost effectiveness, todevelop cell phone-based GIS networks as a useful multi-purpose urban infrastructure not only
for disaster reduction, but also for daily social life and tourism.
Once they become widely used, cell phones bundled with sophisticated digital camera andGPS functions will provide a powerful Internet tool for near real-time GIS data sharing between
affected areas and disaster management headquarters in disaster emergencies. It is also
considered that cell phones will become a useful ubiquitous communications tool for raisingdisaster preparedness awareness among local residents and promoting “participatory
disaster-resistant city planning.”

3-5-3-3 Utilization of Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography
Satellite image data and aerial photographic data are useful to enable the user to associate
map data with physical geography. The problems are: that these data are expensive, that raw
data need reformatting for integration into GIS databases (data conversion and management),
and that satellite image or aerial photographs data for areas or time of interest are often

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3. Information Management on Natural Disasters and Disaster Reduction

unavailable in the user’s preferred resolutions.
Recently, there is an increasing number of satellite image and aerial photograph databases
being created and released as part of international cooperation or as national policies. As of
March 2004, there were 132 countries and regions participating in the “Global Mapping”
project, and the number of countries releasing data reached 18. Though the Project has various
limitations such as small scale maps, vector map data as well as satellite image data are alreadymade available on the Internet. Moreover, the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan has
released a chronological collection of aerial photograph data of the three Japanese metropolitan
areas(Tokyo,Osaka,
andNagoya)(available
inJapanese
only.
http://mapbrowse.gsi.go.jp/airphoto/indexmap_japan.html). National spatial data primarily
created with taxpayer’s money are a common property of the nation. The Japanese government
should continue taking the initiative in the development of this kind of databases.

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