Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Use and Contestations of Earth Observation Technologies in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Cyclones in Southern Africa

Part of the book series: Sustainable Development Goals Series ((SDGS))

  • 324 Accesses

Abstract

The frequency and impact of disasters have been on the increase worldwide. As disasters continue to strike with a heavy toll on communities, there has also been an increase in the number of digital tools and systems available to both the emergency responders and impacted societies. There has been an observed widespread utilisation of earth observation (EO) technologies in disaster risk reduction (DRR), which has led to calls for more ethical scrutiny in all their applications. Through the use of available literature, the objective of this chapter is to examine the use and contestations of EO technologies in DRR. The findings show that there are frameworks that guide the practice of EO at global level. The identified ethical dilemmas in the use of EO in DRR include the protection of privacy and security, handling and utilisation of sensitive crowd-sourced data, communication of EO products to non-experts and respect for individuals and communities during data creation and distribution. The review of EO methods and outputs through a standing review board and core invention of methods such as through participatory techniques are some of the recommendations for more effective satisfaction of community needs. Users and consumers of EO should continue to observe ethics matters into the future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Lambert, A. (2016). Disaster Data Assemblages: Five Perspectives on Social Media and Communities in Response and Recovery. 2016 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2016.280.

  • Ashford, W. (2015). Internal threat among biggest cyber security challenges, says former FBI investigator. Computer Weekly 29 June 2015. http://www.computerweekly.com /news/4500248908/Internal-threat-amongbiggest-cyber-security-challenges-says-former-FBI-investigator.(Accessed 22 May 2020).

  • Bendor, A.P. (2014). In West Africa’s Ebola Crisis, a Mobile Phone-Based Hero for Health Workers. Chapel Hill: IntraHealth International. http://www.intrahealth.org/blog/west-africa%E2%80%99sebola-crisis-mobile-phone-based-hero-health workers#. VyprSmQrJcx. (Accessed 23 May 2020).

  • Bessis, J. L., Béquignon, J. and Mahmood, A. (2004). Three typical examples of activation of the international Charter “Space and Major Disasters”, Advances in Space Research, 33, pp 244-248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruce, E., Albright, L., Sheehan, S. and Blewitt, M. (2014). Distribution patterns of migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Jervis Bay, Australia: A spatial analysis using geographical citizen science data. Applied Geography 54:83–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunker, D and Sleigh, A. (2018). The Future of Spatial Systems for Disaster Management, Geospatial and Temporal Information Capture, Management, and Analytics in Support of Disaster Decision Making. Proceedings of ISCRAM Asia Pacific, Sydney.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canevari-Luzardo, L., Bastide, J., Choutet, I. and Liverman, D. (2017). Using partial participatory GIS in vulnerability and disaster risk reduction in Grenada, Climate and Development, 9:2, 95-109, https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2015.1067593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dube, K., Nhamo, G. and Chikodzi, D. (2020). COVID-19 cripples global restaurant and hospitality industry. Current Issues in Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1773416.

  • Elwood, S., Goodchild, M. F. and Sui, D. Z. (2012). Researching volunteered geographic information: Spatial data, geographic research, and new social practice. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 102(3), 571–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emery, J.R. (2016). The possibilities and pitfalls of humanitarian drones. Ethics and International Affairs, 30(2) : 162-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaitonde, R., and Gopichandran, V. (2016) The Chennai floods of 2015 and the health system response. Ind J Med Ethics,1(2):71–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Group on Earth Observations (2020). Earth Observation for Impact. www.earthobservations.org. (Accessed 24 May 2020).

  • Harris, R. (2013). Reflections on the value of ethics in relation to earth observation, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 34:4, 1207-1219, https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2012.718466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harte, N. and North, J. (2004). The World of UCL. London: UCL Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haworth, B.T. (2018). Implications of volunteered geographic information for disaster management and GIScience: A more complex world of volunteered geography. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 108:1, 226-240, https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2017.1321979.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobe, S., Schmidt-Tedd, B., Schrogl, K.U. and Goh, G. (eds). (2009). Cologne Commentary on SpaceLaw, volume 1. 256 pp. Cologne: Carl Heymanns Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, M., Pringle, J., Christen, M., Eckenwilerd, L., Schwartz, L. and Davé, A. Ethics of emergent information and communication technology applications in humanitarian medical assistance. Int Health 2016; 8: 239–245. https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/ihw028.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IEP. (2011). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/.(Accessed 20 May 2020).

  • International Charter (2020). Activating the Charter. www.disasterscharter.org/how-the-charter-works. (Accessed 23 May 2020).

  • Ito, A. (2005). Issues in the implementation of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters. Space Policy 21: 141–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klonner, C., Marx, S., Uson, T., De Albuquerque, J.P. and Hofle, B. (2016). Volunteered geographic information in natural hazard analysis: A systematic literature review of current approaches with a focus on preparedness and mitigation. International Journal of Geo-Information 5:103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lafferranderie, G. (2001). How to “entrench” the regulation of human activities in space. Space Policy 17 (2): 77-80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madianou, M., Longboan, L. and Ong, J. (2015). Finding a voice through humanitarian technologies? Communication technologies and participation in disaster recovery. Int J Commun 2015;9:3020–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manyena, S. B., O’Brien, G., O’Keefe, P. and Rose, J (2011). Disaster resilience: A bounce back or bounce forward ability? Local Environment 16 (5): 417–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCall, M. K., Martinez, J. and Verplanke, J. (2015). Shifting boundaries of volunteered geographic information systems and modalities: Learning from PGIS. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies 14 (3):791–826.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitrović, V.L., O’Mathúna, D.P. and Nola, I.A. (2019). Ethics and Floods: A Systematic Review. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness VOL. 13/NO. 4. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2018.154.

  • Moatty, A. (2017). Post-flood recovery: an opportunity for disaster risk reduction? In: Vinet F, ed. Floods. Volume 2 – Risk Management. London: ISTE Press and Elsevier; 2017:349–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neslen A. (2017). Flood disasters more than double across Europe in 35 years. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/flood-disasters-more-than. (Accessed 15 May 2020).

  • Ortiz, D. (2020). Geographic information systems (GIS) in humanitarian assistance: A meta-analysis. Pathways: A Journal of Humanistic and Social Inquiry, Vol.1, Iss. 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palen, L., and Liu, S.B. (2007). Citizen communications in crisis: Anticipating a future of ICT-supported public participation. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ed. M. B. Rosson and D. Gilmore, 727–36. San Jose, CA: ACM.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Preston, B. L., Yuen, E. J. and Westaway, R. M. (2011). Putting vulnerability to climate change on the map: A review of approaches, benefits, and risks. Sustainability Science, 6(2), 177–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao, M. and Murthi, S. (2006). Keeping up with remote sensing and GI advances—Policy and legal perspectives. Space Policy 22 (4): 262–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneier, B. (2015). Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scull, P., Burnett, A., Dolfi, E., Goldfarb, A. and Baum, P. (2016). Privacy and ethics in undergraduate GIS curricula. Journal of Geography, 115:1, 24-34, https://doi.org/10.1080/00221341.2015.1017517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Searle, M. (2019). Striking a balance: Disaster responders’ and affected communities’ interests in new technologies. Singapore: Nanyang Technological University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slonecker, E. T., Shaw, D. M. and Lillesand, T. M. (1998). Emerging legal and ethical issues in advanced remote sensing technology. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 64: 589–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, pp 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNISDR. (2015). United Nations. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. UNISDR. Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. (1986a). Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Space, UN General Assembly, A/RES/41/65, 95th Plenary Meeting, December 3, 1986. United Nations, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. (1986b). Reports of the COPUOS Legal Sub-Committee, April 8, 1986 (A/AC.105/C.2/SR.440) and June 12, 1986 (A/AC.105/SR.289), United Nations, Vienna.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallemacq, P. (2018). Natural disasters in 2017: lower mortality, higher cost. Cred Crunch 50:1-2. Retrieved from: https://www.cred.be/publications. (Accessed 10 June 2020).

  • Wang, Z., Ye, X., Tsou, M.H. (2016). Spatial, temporal, and content analysis of Twitter for wildfire hazards. Nat Hazards 83 (2016) 523–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetherholt, W.A. and Rundquist, B.C. (2010). A survey of ethics content in college-level remote sensing courses in the United States. Journal of Geography, 109:2, 75-86, https://doi.org/10.1080/00221341.2010.482161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan, F. and Liu, R. (2018). Feasibility study of using crowdsourcing to identify critical affected areas for rapid damage assessment: Hurricane Matthew case study. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 28, pp 758–767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.02.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Corporate Citizenship, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Godwell Nhamo & David Chikodzi

Authors
  1. Godwell Nhamo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Chikodzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Nhamo, G., Chikodzi, D. (2021). Use and Contestations of Earth Observation Technologies in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management. In: Cyclones in Southern Africa. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72393-4_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation