The NOAH Initiative: Disaster Management Using WebGIS

The Philippines is beset by many natural hazards that result in disasters costing huge amount of lives and millions worth of economic damages. In response to these perennial problems, the Philippine government, through the Department of Science and Technology, launched the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH) in July 2012 to integrate government resources and various initiatives, and develop technologies aimed at mitigating disasters. Among the current activities are high-resolution mapping of critical watersheds using LiDAR to serve as base maps for geohazard models, deployment of automated rain gauges and water level sensors across the country, and use of Doppler radar data and satellite imagery to quantify and downscale weather forecasts among others. A critical component of this initiative is the development of a near real-time web-based spatial data infrastructure which integrates all disaster-related datasets from different agencies from both government and non-government institutions. The program is designed to utilize the latest communication technologies to process, analyze, and disseminate both spatial and non-spatial information with temporal components and their associated metadata to come up with a centralized hazards decision support system for disaster management. It is now being utilized by end-users such as government agencies, local government units, academic institutions, and non-government organizations. More importantly, since its launch, thousands of lives have been saved from severe floods brought by the August 2012 Southwest Monsoon rains and the onslaught of Supertyphoon Bopha in December 2012. Though much work still remains, this is a needed step in the right direction.