Geo-data acquisition through mobile GIS and digital video: an urban disaster management perspective

For the management of urban disaster risk, periodic updating of building and lifeline geo- databases is crucial, particularly in developing countries where urbanisation rates are very high. However, collecting information on the characteristics of buildings and lifelines through full ground surveys can be very costly and time-consuming. Research into more cost-effective surveying alternatives should be therefore high on the agenda. This paper explores the use of an off-the-shelf low-cost and rapid method of data collection for the development of a building inventory based on the combination of remote sensing (RS), global positioning systems (GPS), digital video (DV) and geographic information systems (GIS). The method developed consists of a sequence of stages, the first stage involves the use of RS and GIS for stratification and mission planning purposes. The second stage consists of using GPS and DV for the creation of spatially referenced images and the third stage involves the use of GIS for display and analysis. The methodology developed was tested on the Costa Rican city of Cartago and its advantages and disadvantages identified.