EARTHQUAKE DISASTER MANAGEMENT THROUGH GIS AND PROBABILISTIC RISK ASSESSMENT

Poor people in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to disasters mainly because of where they live. Published research shows that they are more likely to occupy dangerous locations, such as flood plains, river banks, steep slopes, reclaimed land, and highly populated settlements of badly constructed shanty homes.

ADVANTAGES OF LIDAR IN FLOOD MODELING AND IMPORTANT PARAMETERS FOR LIDAR

LiDAR is a relatively new technology that can be used to accurately geo-reference terrain features. Higher accuracy, less time for data collection and processing, least human intervention, and weather and light independence are some of the key advantages offered by this technology, over other conventional methods of topographic data collection.

PROCESSING OF HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELS (DTM) FOR EFFICIENT WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Automated extraction of hydrological features from DTM is gaining significant importance because of the availability of high resolution data. The derived hydrological features are not only spatially accurate, but they also significantly enhance the overall quality of modeling projects such as water resource management and flood risk modeling.

LANDSLIDES IN BHUTAN DUE TO HUMAN INTERVENTIONS - REACTIONS OF A FRAGILE GEO-ENVIRONMENT

Landslides are not uncommon in the Himalayan foothills of Bhutan. The geo-environment comprises a fragile and highly pulverized lithology. It is embedded in the Himalayan Main Boundary Thrust fault and is seismically active. The area also experiences intensive rainfall which increases pore water pressure and makes it favourable to landslide occurrences.

GIS UTILITY MAPPING AND NETWORK MANAGEMENT

Analysis and modeling is an effective tool to help organizations enhance their processes to improve efficiency and to effectively use their technology. Utilities are one of the most important and basic needs of today's community & under increased pressure to improve efficiency, while at the same time, offering new services within the current limited and often declining resources. With the usage of GIS in the Decision Support System the overall efficiency can be increased.

The "fault detection & analysis in Utility distribution network" is proposed to be developed as an integrated plan encompassing all faults which were occurred in any distribution network. GIS has emerged as a very important tool for effective planning, management, communication, and training in various stages. Customized GIS database can play key role in this aspect by providing cost-effective information at various stages.

Apart from fault detection & analysis it can be used for making a billing system, to trace theft in the network, defaulter customers & hence over revenue generation of the organization shoots up.

This paper highlights the utility network geo-database with emphasis on current technological trends being used right from data development stage including decision makers.

3D CITY MODELS FOR URBAN GIS

In this paper the authors present a framework for 3D urban GIS and the concept of digital cities as a social information infrastructure for urban life (including shopping, business, transportation, and education). The proposed architecture for digital cities includes:

-   City mapping (integrates both data archives and real-time sensory information)
-   Digital City Model (DCM)
-   Value added services
-   Surveying
-   Integration of field updates.

These 3D models deliver a true picture of the ground and enable the users to view the location of services and real places in an intuitive and user-friendly way. These models are useful for multifarious applications such as transportation management and planning, disaster management and micro telecommunication network planning.

LAND PROFILE EXTRACTOR

In India too, Government and non-government organizations such as municipalities, planning and architectural firms, and real-estate organizations, are increasingly realizing the power of using such technologies to make their systems more efficient.

This paper presents a practical usage of a variety of geospatial tools that can be of significance to the community working on 'built form'.

REMOTE SENSING - A COMPARISON WITH SUPPLY CHAIN SOURCES

While the reliability and accuracy of remote sensing data is routinely checked through systematic sampling and ground verification, there has never been a large scale accuracy check that was commodity-based via the supply chain. In this paper the authors have made an attempt to scientifically compare remote sensing-based data with supply chain sources such as millers, exporters and wholesale commodities markets. This first-of-its-kind study was undertaken to assess the accuracy of remote sensing-based production estimations of Basmati rice for the 2005 growing season against the actual arrivals at various grain depots as well as other related sources. The survey was conducted through export, wholesale and marketing boards of Basmati in four leading rice-producing states in India: Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Haryana.

Based on a comparative analysis between Kharif (monsoon growing season) 2005 estimates derived using remote sensing, versus the actual arrives at market, a March 2006 conclusion, based on certain calculated and logical assumptions and limitations found that the remote sensing-based estimated results for Kharif 2005 harvest provided an accuracy of 90% to 94% in the study areas. As anticipated, remote sensing based data as expressed in estimates is higher in a predictable manner than total supply chain sources, thus confirming the reliability of this project's data.

The authors consider this to be a cautious, well calculated and mathematical analyses-based study done for the first time in India. Results are re-defining certain usage of remote sensing techniques in agriculture market research and supply chain study. This study may also have an application in calibrating demand forecasting as well.

CUSTOMIZED SOLUTION FOR ENTERPRISE GIS USING ARCGIS ENGINE

Today's Enterprise Geospatial framework requires effective deployment of geospatial applications for various facets of data analysis, editing and rendering requirements.

ESRI ArcGIS Engine with the help of rich set of components can facilitate custom applications, interfaces and cost-effective deployment. This requires only an ArcGIS Engine runtime or ArcGIS desktop license per computer. By customizing with disconnected editing, one can significantly improve the performance and reduce the load on the ArcSDE server.

ArcGIS Engine provides a set of developer controls that simplifies the programming model for including mapping functionality in the applications. It gives the flexibility of customized interfaces for displaying and editing spatial data and can club several interactive development environments to create advanced GIS applications. Disconnected editing avoids network constraints and allows organizations to disseminate their enterprise geospatial data across the departments for improved business effectiveness.

GIS FOR COMPREHENSIVE TAXATION SOLUTIONS

Special Purpose Districts (SPD's) are created by state and local agencies for the purpose of funding special items such as Library Districts, Regional Transportation Districts, Crime Control Districts, etc. SPDs play vital role in implementing sales and use tax that is collected in addition to state tax and any other local taxes.

Frequent changes in municipal boundaries due to annexations make it difficult for retailers to determine local tax jurisdictions and manage tax issues. With tax jurisdictions constantly changing and new tax jurisdiction assignment requirements mandated by state and local lawmakers, the potential liability resulting from inaccurate tax assignment poses a significant problem.

The ESRI suite offers a range of flexible functionalities, which can be used to build a comprehensive solution to ensure that the most current information is available for tax jurisdiction assessment. This paper illustrates a solution that involves in creating a nationwide SPD product and periodic product maintenance to enhance the tax application performance.

IT AND GIS - A COMPLEMENTARY TECHNOLOGY BLEND

GIS integrated with DMS, CRM, GPS/RFID and ERP have proven to deliver immense benefits to organizations like municipal bodies and utilities where work revolves around spatial information. This is what LAVASA - a privately developed lake city spread over 40 sqkms in western India, are trying to achieve. HOK-US (Masterplanners), and LAVASA's promoters are building this city to international standards in spatial planning and aim to have the city governance systems supported by a state of the art enterprise GIS.

ESRI technology is being harnessed to augment the mammoth design, planning and construction challenges presently underway. The paper describes how RMSI and LAVASA, are putting into place, various best practices in GIS technology from 3DVisualisation, CAD Standards, Data Modeling, GPS updates, Linear Referencing, Map Publishing etc. amidst Indian realities of cost, construction priorities and cultural issues, to ensure that this city gets maximum advantage from an integrated enterprise GIS tomorrow.