Applied Remote Sensing: Risk and Vulnerability

- Where are people and their livelihoods most at risk of being effected by natural hazards?

- How can we improve risk and vulnerability assessments with the help of Earth Observation data?

Mountainous regions are by nature heavily exposed to natural hazards such as flash floods, debris flows, landslides, rock falls and avalanches. Mountain dwellers have adapted their livelihood strategies according to these permanent threats. This is particularly true for the Alps, with its long history of settlement and agricultural use. In recent years the risk of being affected by hazardous impacts as an individual or community in the Alpine arc has augmented for reasons which are mainly two-fold:

1.      The frequency and severity of sudden natural hazards has increased, not least due to changes in climate conditions. In addition, threatening events of a more 'creeping' character, such as droughts, changes in precipitation patterns and melting glaciers have started or are very likely to occur in the near future.

2.      Societal transformations that cause changes in the distribution and composition of populations as well as  assets and infrastructure. The most significant result of this process is an accumulation of people and goods in the valley bottoms.

The task for decision makers and spatial planners is to pursue mitigation and adaptation strategies that will most effectively reduce the negative impacts of the resulting increased risks. The Institute for Applied Remote Sensing in close collaboration with the local authorities, aims to improve risk and vulnerability assessments, including the harmonisation of theoretical concepts, the identification and selection of indicators  relevant for quantification or comparison, and the application and validation of the developed approaches. A great part of the work is the evaluation of the potential and drawbacks of various types of remote sensing data, particularly as a cost-effective and frequently updatable information source.

Our current project(s) in this research field are:

MOVE - Methods for the Improvement of vulnerability Assessments in Europe

SAFER - Services and Applications for Emergency Response