Remote sensing and spatial analysis for disaster management in tropical cyclones
Citation: Hoque MAA, Phinn S, Roelfsema C. A systematic review of tropical cyclone disaster management research using remote sensing and spatial analysis. Ocean & Coastal Management. 2017:146;109-20.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: No.
Funding sources: Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship and the University of Queensland, Australia.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for quantitative studies on cyclone disaster management. They restricted their searches to peer-reviewed articles published between May 1995 and May 2016. The authors searched in May 2016 and found 53 articles from 30 countries.
What was found: Almost all studies used optical imagery. Synthetic aperture radar imagery was rarely used. Very few studies examined tropical cyclone risk assessment and incorporated mitigation capacity and spatial multi-criteria at the local scale.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that much of the recent research had focused on prevention, reduction, and preparedness. As a result, policymakers in countries affected by cyclones gave priority to risk management and mitigation information from high spatial resolution satellite data. Coastal African countries are regularly impacted by tropical cyclones, yet were missing from the research on this topic and should be included. The authors of the review also stated that climate change scenarios have to be taken into account in future cyclone risk mapping and modelling.
Other considerations: The authors of the review did not discuss their findings in the context of issues relating to health equity.
This summary was prepared by Beirut Ibrahim, checked by Jawaria Karim, and finalized by William Summerskill.