10th Annual - . . . Technical and Business 7 Exhibition and Symposium - May 10 11,19W Von Bmun Civic Center Huntsville, Alahama THE GLOBAL EMERGENCY OBSERVATION AND WARNING SYSTEMS Angelia P. Bukley and John A. Muqueen Program Development Office NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville. Alabama 358 12 TABES Paper NO. 94- 622 TABES Sponsored Amually by Hvntsville Association of Technical Societies P.O.B ox 1964 Huntsville, Alabama 35807 Telephone: 205-837-4287 Fax: 205-837-4275 Fa mission to cmv or republish contact HATS at above address. TABES 94-622 THE GLOBAL EMERGENCY OBSERVATION AND WARNING SYSTEM by Angelia P. Bukley and John A. Mulqucen Program Development Offia NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, Alabama 358 12 design projects. GEOWARN was one of the INTRODUCTION design projects aqd was supported by 38 students from 16 counaies in America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. The impact of natural hazards on humanity is an ever-increasing problem, especially as the population increases and migrates to vast urban The primary motivation for the GEOWARN centers. Causing more that US $100B worth of project is a clear need for such 3 system to damage and claiming more than 150,000 lives provide warning and relief support to those annually, natural disasters have caught the countries and regions of the world that currently attention of public officials, as well as disaster do not enjoy these services. Furthermore, the management, relief, and humanitarian United Nations (UN) has declared the decade of organizations worldwide. There is a significant the 1990's to be the International Decade for thrust in the United States Government, the Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR, or the United Nations, and governments around the Decade). The time is clearly appropriate to world to focus efforts on mitigating the consider the development of a GEOWARN deleterious effects of natural hazards on the concept, which would support the third main human population and suppomng infrastructure. objective of the Decade: ready access to global, regional, national and local warning systems and broad dissemination of warnings. Fortunately, the technology exists today to make a significant impact on the effects of natural disasters. Indeed, no technological A PROMISING CONCEPT FOR breakthroughs are required to implement a global GLOBAL WARNING AND RELIEF system capable of performing the functions required to provide sufficient information for Based upon an extensive characterization of prevention, preparedness, warning, and relief natural hazards, and an evaluation their impacts from natml disaster effects. One such system on humanity, the ISU student design team that has been proposed would combine the developed a set of functional and technical elements of remote sensing, data processing, requirements for a global warning and relief information dismbution, and communications system. Figure 1 s h ~ the economic support on a global scale for natural disaster mitigation. The concept is called the Global Emergency Observation and Warning (GEOWARN) system ORIGIN OF THE GEOW.,RN CONCEPT The GEOWARN Concept was originally developed at the 1993 Summer Session of the International Space University (ISU) hosted in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. During the ten weeks of intensive interdisciplinary space studies, the international student bodv, Economic lossa (Billion USSFWO) comprising 100 students from 30 countri~,, Figure 1. Disaster Impacts. engaged in the development of two student and human impacts of natural disasters. The in a timely fashion. Realizing that technology is economic losses and number of deaths due to not the total solution to the problem, specific types of disasters were assessed. The consideration is also given to relevant ISL' team identified eight types of natural international issues, social issues, and the disasters have the most pronounced effects on organizational soucturc of a GEOWARN system. humanity. These primary disasters an identified in the figure. All other types of disasters would THE NASA MSFC GEOWARN be plotted inside the shaded area in the lower left FEASIBILITY STUDY comer of the graph. Armed conflicts and the improper use of pesticides were eliminated from A review of the proposed GEOWARN the scope of GEOWARN since they an political system as put forth by the ISU student design problems rather thar, natural Jisasters. It was team revealed that a great potential exists for the assumed that the remaining six primary disasters realization of the concept. In an unfunded would drive the requirements for the concept feasibility study begun in November, GEOWARN sysem, and that if the GEOWARN 1993, the Rogram Development Offrce of the system satisfied those rcquircments for the six Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) tmdmmk primary disasters then it would be able to satisfy to examine in detail the work done during the the requirements for virtually all other natural ISU '93 Summer Session. A team of fifteen disasters. The requirements were determined for engineers and scientists, which included a the remote sensqg, communications and data F wknt fnom the ISU GEOWARN design team, management elem qts of the system. From these ' dissected the proposed design and evaluated the requirements, a suitable architecture was derived. riait of the concept. The goals of the feasibility The architectural elements for realization of the study include: 1) assessment of the technical, proposed concept include space-based and programmatic, and implementation aspects of airborne remote sensing platforms, ground-based GEOWARN, 2) identification of remote sensing, sensors, high speed communications links for communication and data processing sensed data and processed information, advanced requiwments; and 3) identification space based, data pmcessing capabilities including state-of the- airborne, and ground based GEOWARN an geographical infonnation systems, and an elements. extensive archive containing information relevant to each affected ma, the primary hazards therein, The primary focus of the feasibility study has disaster management resources, and pertinent been on the technical issues associated with rules and regulatims fgr disaster rnanagemtnt. actual implementation of a global warning and relief system. A significant conclusion of the Rather than invest scarce resources in the evaluation is that there absolutely no technical development of new infrastructure to support the impediments to realizing a system that could development of a global warning and relief attain the goals of the GEOWARN concept. system, it was proposed that the GEOWARN be Indeed, a plethora of potential system elements implemented incrementally, capitalizing on have been identified during the course of the existing remote sensing platforms, computing study that meet the operational requirements. and daia centers, and communications These elements include a host of remote sensing capabilities. This implementation strategy is satellites, ground receiving stations, data similar to that of the International Emergency processing centers, satellite communications Readiness and Response Information System systems, simulations and models of weather and (ERRIS) which has been proposed under the other natural phenomena, detailed geographical UN IDNDR initiative. The ISU study information systems, and user interfaces concluded that to fulfill the technical requirements designed specifically for emergency mana@mcnt derived, a modicum of new space-bad remote officials. The Marshall study differed ftom the sensing platforms arc required to compliment ISU study in some aspects on the nmotc sensing existing satellite observation systems. It was also requirements. It was concluded that a significant proposed that aircraft-mounted remo;e sensing disaster warning and relief capability could be capabilities be exploited to allow quick response achieved through the use of existing and planned tims and elimina~ !he possibility that a spaa- remote sensing satellites, then is no strong b a dn rnote sensi J platform may not be in the nquhmmt for additional satellites to suppat tk proper position to make the required observations GEOWARN system. Agencies throughout the Potential GEOWARN Follow-On Activities Advanced GEOWARN Definition Study - - Requirements Definition Study Studies - Continue Definition of GEOWARN Architecture8 - Develop Implemsntation Plan Cost Estimate Joint Projects with Other Agencies - Conduct Pilot Projects with Alabama & Tennessee LProg rams - Emergency Management Agencies Demonstrate Aerial Disaster Damage Assessment - Develop User Interface with National Weather Service Expand MSFC Role in Data Collection & Mgt. - Examine Applicability of EOS Data Sys. to GEOWARN - Develop High Data Rate Downlink to MSFC Ground Sta. - evel lop ~pplicableG eographicai Information System Assist in Fostering International Data Access Develop Concepts Using MSFC Expertise - Lightning Mappers, Passive Microwave & Wind Sensors Instrument and - Spacecraft Dev't - Increase Global Precipitation Monitoring Esiabiish Partnerships with Industry - - LEO Small Sat8 for Envlmnmontrl Obsomtlonm GEO Corn. Sat8 with Advancod Envlronrnontal Sonsom Figure 2. Follow-on Activities. United States and the world are aggressively Prior to specifying the details of a final system pursuing individual projects and programs that configuration, an indepth technical requirements could be integrated into a GEOWARN system. study is necessaiy to ensure that all critical These global assets have been catalogued as a parameters are addressed by the system. Such a part of the study. study was not possible in the limited time available to the ISU team. An advanced FUTURE STUDIES AND requirements study is planned to commence in DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS mid 1994. The Marshall Space Flight Center Study has To support the planned advanced studies, idenafimi many potential roles for NASA in the demonstration projects arc also proposed. These definitiolt of the GEOWARN system and the are currently planned at a local, state, and development of system componem. These roles regional level and would make use of space and are summarized in the potential follow-on airborne remote sensing data and the Distributed activities listed in Figure 2. The GEOWARN Active Archive Centers of the Earth Scicncts concept as presented by the ISU has been Data Information System under development as assessed to be technically feasible, with only part of the NASA Mission to Planet Earth. lllinor rllcxiifiations to thc proposed mhitccture. C;oopcration among several US Government and State agencies is planned. final configuration will quantify these needs. Advantage must be taken of all existing and The hean of GEOWARN will be the data planned space assets prior to proposing the processing and information dissemination development of new, expensive remote sensing systems. Existing and planned systems will be platforms. Airborne remote sensing systems, utilized to the extent possible. Information including private, public, and military assets will systems such as the IERRIS and others both be assessed for incorporation into the system existing and planned sl~ouldb e incorporated as architecture, as well. New airborne sensor part of the global network. Advances in high requirements will be identified. speed data processing, geographical information system, relational data base capabilities, and Efforts to involve internlltional organizations information displays make the realization of the in the studies arc ongoing. Interest has been data and information component of the system expressed at the European Space Agency, the technically feasible. Communication of the data Canadian Space Agency, and other international and information via ground and satellite links is organizations, primarily by members and possible at data rates which are more than supporters of the ISU student design team. The sufficient to meet the identified needs. Advanced MSFC study team acknowledges that studies will investigate the application of current development of the GEOWARN concept and its and planned communications and data systems to eventual realization will require significant inter- aspects of GEOWARN. agency and international cooperation. It is also realized that the technical solution is only part of Although all of the architectural elements the total solution. There are an enormous required for full system realization are not in number of social, political, and legal issues place today, the next decade will see the launch which must be addressed, or the concept will of a number of advanced satellite systems that fail. The team requires and actively seeks advice could be incorporated, in keeping with the and cooperation of all relevant organizations in incremental development scheme. The potential effort to achieve the goal of providing global exists that new satellites may be needed, and warning and relief for natural disasters. future advanced studies towards a GEOWARN