Balogh, Z., Gatial, E., Dolatabadi, S. H., Dlugolinský, Štefan, Saltarella, M., Scipioni, M. P., et al. (2023). Communication Protocol for using Nontraditional Information Sources between First Responders and Citizens during Wildfires. In Jaziar Radianti, Ioannis Dokas, Nicolas Lalone, & Deepak Khazanchi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 152–165). Omaha, USA: University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Abstract: One of the biggest challenges faced during the wildfires is communication. A specific case represents the need to establish communication between first responders and the public. This paper presents a proposal for a generic protocol to ensure effective communication between fire fighters and many citizens at the incident site or in the surrounding area using nontraditional information sources such as a dedicated mobile app or social media. Specific challenges, concepts and technologies relevant to such communication are described specifically customized for forest fires and wildfires. The protocol itself is provided by proposing information flows between the involved actors. Moreover, several technologies including a Citizen Engagement Mobile App, an Edge Micro Data Center for forward command centers, a Mesh in the Sky communication infrastructure or a Dashboard integrating and displaying all the data in one place is shortly introduced. The presented paper is a work in progress.
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Carolyn Huston, Jennifer Davis, Petra Kuhnert, & Andrew Bolt. (2023). Creating Trusted Extensions to Existing Software Tools in Bushfire Consequence Estimation. In V. L. Thomas J. Huggins (Ed.), Proceedings of the ISCRAM Asia Pacific Conference 2022 (pp. 25–34). Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey Unversity.
Abstract: Bushfire modelling has advanced with wildfire simulators such as Spark and Phoenix Rapidfire that can generate plausible fire dynamics and simulations that decision-makers can easily explore. With extreme weather impacting the Australian landscapes through the onset of droughts and heatwaves, it is becoming more important to make decisions rapidly from fire simulations. An element of this decision-making process is trust, in which the decision-maker feels empowered to make decisions from models of complex systems like fire. We propose a framework for decision-making that makes use of a fire emulator, a surrogate version of Spark, to facilitate faster exploration of wildfire predictions and their uncertainties under a changing climate. We discuss the advantages and next steps of an emulator model using the mechanisms and conditions framework, a powerful vocabulary and design framework that builds in trust to allow users of a technology to understand and accept the features of a system.
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Humaira Waqas, & Muhammad Imran. (2019). #CampFireMissing: An Analysis of Tweets About Missing and Found People From California Wildfires. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: Several research studies have shown the importance of social media data for humanitarian aid. Among others,
the issue of missing and lost people during disasters and emergencies is crucial for disaster managers. This work
analyzes Twitter data from a recent wildfire event to determine its usefulness for the mitigation of the missing and
found people issue. Data analysis performed using various filtering techniques, and trend analysis revealed that
Twitter contains important information potentially useful for emergency managers and volunteers to tackle this
issue. Many tweets were found containing full names, partial names, location information, and other vital clues
which could be useful for finding missing people.
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Joaquin Ramirez, Miguel Mendes, & Santiago Monedero. (2015). Enhanced forest fire risk assessment through the use of fire simulation models. In L. Palen, M. Buscher, T. Comes, & A. Hughes (Eds.), ISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings ? 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Kristiansand, Norway: University of Agder (UiA).
Abstract: Forest fire risk assessment is an important task for forest fire management and planning. This paper presents current work on the definition and implementation of forest fire risk assessment models in the Wildfire AnalystTM software with the purpose of providing support and increased value in risk assessment. Three models are presented based on the concept of forest fire risk: forest fire structural hazard model that provides the assessment of the expected easiness that a fire has to spread in a certain area, a stochastic model that assesses the fire growth potential considering as potential ignition points critical elements of electric supply networks and a stochastic model that assesses the potential impact of forest fires on these infrastructures.
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Katrina Petersen. (2015). Visualizing Risk: making sense of collaborative disaster mapping. In L. Palen, M. Buscher, T. Comes, & A. Hughes (Eds.), ISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings ? 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Kristiansand, Norway: University of Agder (UiA).
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between collaborative disaster mapping and conceptions of risk. It looks at improvised mapmaking during the 2007 wildfires in Southern California to identify and analyze social and technological issues in creating a shared understanding through collaboration. By comparing and contrasting two different, yet intertwined, mapping practices this paper focuses on how the distribution of social and technological actors change how risk, threat, and uncertainty are approached. One, more centralized mapmaking collaboration produced risks related to managing authority and security. The other, more distributed collaboration, produced risks related to public trust and safety. This paper argues that map-making is characterized as a messy, distributed network of knowledge production in which the meaning of risk emerges through the unplanned collaborations that evolve as those involved work to make sense of the wildfires, not as an a-priori definition.
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Mojir, K. Y., Maceviciute, E., Olson, N., Gatial, E., & Balogh, Z. (2023). Citizen Engagement in wildfire management: needs, challenges, methods and framework. In Jaziar Radianti, Ioannis Dokas, Nicolas Lalone, & Deepak Khazanchi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 761–772). Omaha, USA: University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Abstract: With climate change, the frequency and spread of wildfires have intensified globally, bearing disastrous impacts on wildlife, the economy, and human well-being. Efforts on broad fronts are required, including proactive public participation. However, studies related to citizen engagement in the context of wildfire management remain limited. Therefore, there is a need for further studies in this area. This paper reports on ongoing work conducted in the context of an H2020 project called SILVANUS. The study investigates the methods, practices, needs and challenges related to citizen engagement in wildfire management. The authors have developed a tentative citizen engagement framework, and preliminary results related to citizens' needs and challenges are presented. The study identifies relevant topics, training contents, and methods that can be used for public engagement in wildfire management. The paper contributes towards designing future engagement modalities, technologies and training materials related to wildfire management and potentially even other crises.
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Christine Owen, Jan Douglas, & Gregory Hickey. (2008). Information flow and teamwork in Incident Control Centers. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 742–751). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This paper reports research in progress into a study of information flow and teamwork in Incident Management Teams (IMTs) in Australia. The research project, funded by the Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre. The overall research design includes interviews with experienced personnel, observations of real-time incidents and training simulations and a national questionnaire of incident management practices. Data reported in this conference session will focus on a sample of observation data conducted in two training simulations of a wildfire incident. Observations were video recorded and key IMT members wore lapel microphones. Video data has been coded for use of artifacts (e.g., maps, status boards) and room movement. Audio data has been coded for by the quantity and quality of interactions within and between IMT functions. The presentation aims to contribute to an understanding of what enables and constrains effective teamwork and information flow within Incident Control Centers (ICCs) in Australia.
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Pettersson, M. N., Axelsson, J., Svenson, P., & Johansson, A. (2023). Towards a Risk Analysis Method for Systems of Systems: A Case Study on Wildfire Rescue Operations. In Jaziar Radianti, Ioannis Dokas, Nicolas Lalone, & Deepak Khazanchi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 530–545). Omaha, USA: University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Abstract: Crisis management (CM) is facing new challenges due to the increasing complexity of contemporary society. To mitigate a crisis, it is often necessary for a collection of independent systems, people, and organizations to cooperate. These collaborating entities constitute an interconnected socio-technical system of systems (SoS). An important question is how a CM SoS should be constructed to minimize the risk of failure and accurately handle a crisis. SoS pose new challenges in analysing risk during interactions. This paper investigates whether the risk analysis method STAMP (System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes) is suitable for SoS, using a forest fire rescue operation case study. Results show characteristics of various risk sources and identify some SoS characteristics, such as dynamic structure and latent risks, that are not sufficiently handled in STAMP. The study further contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting potential directions for research on SoS risk assessment methods.
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Schmidt-Colberg, A., & Löffler-Dauth, L. (2023). A Human-Centric Evaluation Dataset for Automated Early Wildfire Detection from a Causal Perspective. In Jaziar Radianti, Ioannis Dokas, Nicolas Lalone, & Deepak Khazanchi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 933–943). Omaha, USA: University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Abstract: Insight into performance ability is crucial for successfully implementing AI solutions in real-world applications. Unanticipated input can lead to false positives (FP) and false negatives (FN), potentially resulting in false alarms in fire detection scenarios. Literature on fire detection models shows varying levels of complexity and explicability in evaluation practices; little supplementary information on performance ability outside of accuracy scores is provided. We advocate for a standardized evaluation dataset that prioritizes the end-user perspective in assessing performance capabilities. This leads us to ask what an evaluation dataset needs to constitute to enable a non-expert to determine the adequacy of a model's performance capabilities for their specific use case. We propose using data augmentation techniques that simulate interventions to remove the connection to the original target label, providing interpretable counterfactual explanations into a model's predictions.
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Spyros Chrysanthopoulos, Theofanis Kapetanakis, Giannis Chaidemenos, Stelios Vernardos, Harris Georgiou, & Claudio Rossi. (2020). Emergency Response in Recent Urban/Suburban Disaster Events in Attica: Technology Gaps, Limitations and Lessons Learned. In Amanda Hughes, Fiona McNeill, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2020 Conference Proceedings – 17th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 984–989). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Emergency response operations in large-scale urban/suburban disaster events is often addressed by the standard protocols and international guidelines for collapsed buildings, heavy debris, etc. However, a wide range of First Responder (FR) operations need to address various other contexts, work environments and hazards. In this paper, two real disaster events are explored as use cases for such urban/suburban FR operations, namely a flash flood and a wildfire, both in Attica, Greece (2017-2018). Based on our team's experience from these mobilizations and active participation in both these events as FR actor in the field, we present the challenges, the complexity of such multi-aspect disaster events, the limitations of emergency response, the technology gaps of the FR teams, as well as the lessons learned during these deployments. Finally, we make some notes on future prospects and possible advancements in tools and technologies that would greatly enhance the operational safety and readiness of the FR teams in such events.
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Jeannette N. Sutton, Leysia Palen, & Irina Shklovski. (2008). Backchannels on the front lines: Emergent uses of social media in the 2007 Southern California Wildfires. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 624–631). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Opportunities for participation by members of the public are expanding the information arena of disaster. Social media supports “backchannel” communications, allowing for wide-scale interaction that can be collectively resourceful, self-policing, and generative of information that is otherwise hard to obtain. Results from our study of information practices by members of the public during the October 2007 Southern California Wildfires suggest that community information resources and other backchannel communications activity enabled by social media are gaining prominence in the disaster arena, despite concern by officials about the legitimacy of information shared through such means. We argue that these emergent uses of social media are pre-cursors of broader future changes to the institutional and organizational arrangements of disaster response.
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Zelenka, J., Kasanický, T. š, Gatial, E., Balogh, Z., Majlingová, A., Brodrechtova, Y., et al. (2023). Coordination of Drones Swarm for Wildfires Monitoring. In Jaziar Radianti, Ioannis Dokas, Nicolas Lalone, & Deepak Khazanchi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 144–151). Omaha, USA: University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Abstract: As a result of climate change and global weather patterns, large forest fires are becoming more frequent in different parts of the world. The focus of the presented work is on creation of a complex coordination and communication framework for a swarm of drones specially tailored for use in preventing and monitoring of forest fires. The presented algorithm has been testing and evaluating using a computer simulation. The testing and validation in relevant environment is scheduled during a pilot demonstration exercise with real personnel and equipment, which will take place in Slovakia on April 2023. The presented work is a part of the SILVANUS EU H2020 project, whose objective is the creation of a climate resilient forest management platform for forest fire prevention and suppression. SILVANUS draws on environmental, technical, and social science experts to support regional and national authorities responsible for forest fire management in their respective countries.
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