Within the framework of the XX Spatial Data Infrastructure of the Argentine Republic (IDERA) Conference and the United Nations International Seminar on the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework, which are being held in our city until Friday, July 3, a workshop on “Disaster Risk Management: Use of geospatial information for resilience, monitoring, and emergency response” was conducted.
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Agency (AFE) and the National Geographic Institute (IGN); IDE Chile (Spatial Data Infrastructure); RENAPER, and the Mixed Technical Commission of Salto Grande (CTM), among other institutions and organizations, presented their experiences. The activity included the participation of members of the Emergency Operations Committee (COE) of Concordia.
The first presentation was given by Sebastián Portillo, from the National Emergency Alert and Monitoring System (SINAME); Daniela D´Amen, from the Network of Scientific-Technical Organizations for Comprehensive Risk Management (GIRCyT); and María Fernanda Alarcón, from the National Geographic Institute (IGN), who spoke about the importance of managing interoperable information to strengthen risk management, which facilitates having emergency data from across the country and continuous monitoring to track potential adverse situations through the Federal Emergency Agency (AFE).
From IDE Chile, Pablo Morales Hermosilla presented the work being carried out in the neighboring country. In his talk, titled “From reaction to anticipation: the strategic role of geospatial information,” he remarked that “geospatial information allows for anticipating scenarios, coordinating responses, and supporting decision-making throughout the event. As a country, we are a natural laboratory for disasters and emergencies, and if we didn't learn that way, there was no other,” he stated, adding that “prior information, the time before the event, is fundamental to be well prepared and to know what infrastructure we have available, such as hospitals, schools, or which sectors to evacuate.”
Fabrizio Scrollini, Director of Programs at the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), an organization that produces open and interoperable geospatial data that complements geospatial data infrastructure in risk management and disaster response, shared his work in leading programs that connect local communities, satellite imagery, and collaborative mapping with national systems. “This team was born from the tragic event of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, starting with the digitization of Port-au-Prince maps to allow the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders teams to respond to the emergency. When the event happened, there was no information; once that information was obtained, it was available to all intervening agencies within seven days.”
From the National Registry of Persons (RENAPER), Guillermo Alonso, Mariela Mitsuko Nerome, and Agustina Zavaglia presented on the Dasymetric Mapping of Argentina, which constitutes a key tool to deepen the spatial representation of the country's population distribution: “This mapping allows for estimating the population in a precise and effective way in terms of location, which can be used as an input for territorial planning and risk and emergency management,” they highlighted.
Finally, Guillermo Collazos, from the Hydrology area of Salto Grande, presented work they have been developing on the methodology to estimate the population displaced by floods, specifying that based on a mapping carried out in 2019, “we have a high-resolution and high-quality terrain model, which has been verified under flood conditions through satellite images, both of Concordia and Salto (ROU).”
The objective is “to be able to quantify the number of displaced, evacuated, and self-evacuated people from both cities. Extraordinary floods are natural and are produced by the river with its hydrological variability,” explained Collazos, adding that although there is “historical memory of past events, what interested us was to see if more extreme events occurred, what effect they could have on the number of displaced people.”
In closing, he remarked that “integration into an SDI will allow for the incorporation of other relevant variables, obtaining more realistic results that facilitate planning and decision-making. Raising awareness, training, and prior preparation of the population to respond in an orderly manner to an emergency is a low-cost but high-impact measure.”
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Agency (AFE) and the National Geographic Institute (IGN); IDE Chile (Spatial Data Infrastructure); RENAPER, and the Mixed Technical Commission of Salto Grande (CTM), among other institutions and organizations, presented their experiences. The activity included the participation of members of the Emergency Operations Committee (COE) of Concordia.
The first presentation was given by Sebastián Portillo, from the National Emergency Alert and Monitoring System (SINAME); Daniela D´Amen, from the Network of Scientific-Technical Organizations for Comprehensive Risk Management (GIRCyT); and María Fernanda Alarcón, from the National Geographic Institute (IGN), who spoke about the importance of managing interoperable information to strengthen risk management, which facilitates having emergency data from across the country and continuous monitoring to track potential adverse situations through the Federal Emergency Agency (AFE).
From IDE Chile, Pablo Morales Hermosilla presented the work being carried out in the neighboring country. In his talk, titled “From reaction to anticipation: the strategic role of geospatial information,” he remarked that “geospatial information allows for anticipating scenarios, coordinating responses, and supporting decision-making throughout the event. As a country, we are a natural laboratory for disasters and emergencies, and if we didn't learn that way, there was no other,” he stated, adding that “prior information, the time before the event, is fundamental to be well prepared and to know what infrastructure we have available, such as hospitals, schools, or which sectors to evacuate.”
Fabrizio Scrollini, Director of Programs at the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), an organization that produces open and interoperable geospatial data that complements geospatial data infrastructure in risk management and disaster response, shared his work in leading programs that connect local communities, satellite imagery, and collaborative mapping with national systems. “This team was born from the tragic event of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, starting with the digitization of Port-au-Prince maps to allow the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders teams to respond to the emergency. When the event happened, there was no information; once that information was obtained, it was available to all intervening agencies within seven days.”
From the National Registry of Persons (RENAPER), Guillermo Alonso, Mariela Mitsuko Nerome, and Agustina Zavaglia presented on the Dasymetric Mapping of Argentina, which constitutes a key tool to deepen the spatial representation of the country's population distribution: “This mapping allows for estimating the population in a precise and effective way in terms of location, which can be used as an input for territorial planning and risk and emergency management,” they highlighted.
Finally, Guillermo Collazos, from the Hydrology area of Salto Grande, presented work they have been developing on the methodology to estimate the population displaced by floods, specifying that based on a mapping carried out in 2019, “we have a high-resolution and high-quality terrain model, which has been verified under flood conditions through satellite images, both of Concordia and Salto (ROU).”
The objective is “to be able to quantify the number of displaced, evacuated, and self-evacuated people from both cities. Extraordinary floods are natural and are produced by the river with its hydrological variability,” explained Collazos, adding that although there is “historical memory of past events, what interested us was to see if more extreme events occurred, what effect they could have on the number of displaced people.”
In closing, he remarked that “integration into an SDI will allow for the incorporation of other relevant variables, obtaining more realistic results that facilitate planning and decision-making. Raising awareness, training, and prior preparation of the population to respond in an orderly manner to an emergency is a low-cost but high-impact measure.”