Sergey Kosolapov
Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Ecological Problems, Bakulina St. 6, Kharkov 310166, Ukraine, tel. (+380-0572) 454124, fax (+380-0572) 455047, e-mail: belogur@uscpw.kharkov.ua

Abstract

Two problems (population evacuation and determination of territory flooding), having the greatest interest for the civil defence staff of Kharkov region of Ukraine, are considered. GIS application is presented as two demonstration projects. These projects have been elaborated with the help of Network Analyst and Spatial Analyst modules.

INTRODUCTION

In Ukraine the Ministry of Emergency Situations and its local organs - the Civil Defence Staffs - are dealing with problems of safety under conditions of natural disasters, accidents and other dangerous events. Safety of municipal property is under stuardship of municipal organs. Nonetheless, the safety of population cannot be considered as ensured. As a result, in some cities NGOs rescue services have been created. They give first aid to casualties and perform rescue work on voluntary basis. In Kharkov there is such NGO called the Emergency Rescue Service (ERS).
Emergency Rescue Service of Kharkov has been registered in 1989 as a non-governmental organisation for good damages and help free of charge population in case of accidents and catastrophes, natural disasters in Ukraine and abroad. The service is dealing with the following ecological situations - detection of the most dangerous sources of risk for population, provision of safeguard in case of emergency situations, information to population about impending emergencies, elimination of the emergency consequences. We are helping population in Kharkov and the oblast (administrative region), in Ukraine and in other countries: Armenia (1988), Rumania (1989), Georgia (1991). Even though the economic situation is quite critical, our organisation is going on with round-the-clock watch service and help to victims.
Application of up-to-date GIS-technologies in ERS activities aimed at safety provision for population became possible due to free-of-charge help of Esri, the world leader in GIS elaboration. ArcView GIS v.3.0a Professional Edition with Network Analyst and Spatial Analyst has been received as donation in the framework of Esri Conservation Program from ECOMM (Kiev) in October 1997. On the basis of these program products, without any financial support from municipality or Civil Defence Staff of the Kharkov region, two demonstration projects have been elaborated. Their description is given below.

DEMONSTRATION PROJECT 1.

The assumed situation: a bacteriological hazard around Civil Defence Staff site. The evacuation problem was solved by application of the Network Analyst module and ArcView GIS v3.0a with the help of digitiser, an author’s program and the script-file written for this project. At the Kharkov city streets network three types of problems were solved: finding the best route between two arbitrary assigned points, determination of the route to the nearest point from other theme, and determination of zones by given distances from a network point. Results are presented as three views.

View 1. Assumed situation. Civil Defence Staff (CDS) duty officer has detected an unidentified object with a liquid. A rapid analysis indicates to its acute toxicity. GIS RECOMMENDATIONS: transfer the object to the nearest sanitary and bacteriological laboratory, and the duty officer to a hospital.

View 2. Conclusion of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station (SES): the object is a bacteriological dangerous. Immediate hospitalisation of all people from 50 m zone, evacuation all people from 50-150 m zone to the quarantine zone (150-500 m). GIS RECOMMENDATIONS: guards between zone 2 and 3 - 16 men, along zone 3 boundary - 40 men. 150 people living in the zone 2 accommodate in 2 kindergartens and 1 schools in the zone 3.

View 3. GIS RECOMMENDATIONS: routes for people evacuation from 50-150 m zone to the quarantine zone (150-500 m).

Figure 1
An example of a problem solution on the basis of Network Analyst

Fig. 1 demonstrates one of the described views. The figure illustrates how map visualisation can provide for a concrete technical and economical effect. Red triangles indicate guard points, selected through a calculation algorithm. Such points should be placed at each street, where it enters the zone 3 area. By calculation 20 people are necessary for such guarding. But the map visualisation allows to reduce this number to 10 people, because guard points can be placed at 2 to 3 streets crossing directly near to the zone 3 fringe (points recommended by GIS are designated as a "guard with dog"). Fig.1 demonstrated also how Network Analyst allows to select an optimal way for evacuation, without entering to the most dangerous zone 1, put out of bounds by the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station (SES).

DEMONSTRATION PROJECT 2.

The assumed situation: a freshet flooding of the territory. A relief map of the assumed territory was made with the help of Spatial Analyst. Designations of elevations were added. Changes in water level were given with the help of Show Symbol functions. The main aim consisted in demonstration of ArcView GIS capacity in imaging three-dimensional maps and in their use for solution of operative tasks of people saving, without application of involved hydrological computations. In the framework of this project were elaborated and printed zone of operative actions for people evacuation, with visual demonstration of critical sites (islands and peninsulas) needing urgent evacuation, and narrow drainage divides amenable to destruction by construction machines for quick reduction of water level at threatened sites and freshet diversion along safe direction.
In the framework of the project, three views were printed on a colour ink-jet printer, with the following text information:

View 1. Situation before freshet.

View 2. Flooded zone.

View 3. Zone of operations, connected with the population evacuation, with visual indication of critical points (islands and peninsulas) where emergency evacuation is necessary, as well as narrow divides, which must be subjected to destruction by building machinery and so to lower the water level at the flooded region, by diverting water in a safe route.

Figure 2
An example of a problem solution on the basis of Spatial Analyst

Fig. 2, demonstrating the zone of operative activities (view 3), reveals that from the peninsula on the North it is possible to evacuate people with the help of motor vehicles, in contrast to the situation at islands where for this purpose it is necessary to use helicopters or boots. As elevations are known, it is possible to conclude that after water level additional rise equal to 10 cm the land evacuation will be impossible.

PRESENTATION

There demonstration projects 1 and 2 were presented:

• to specialists of Civil Defence Staff, in the process of direct dialogue with ArcView GIS;
• leadership of Civil Defence Staff by short outline of ArcView GIS capabilities with demonstration of 6 colour views, described above.

The results can be evaluated as very satisfactory. The leadership of Civil Defence Staff came to conclusion about necessary to use GIS-technologies based on Esri software for its practical activities. They have applied to their financing authorities for acquisition of ArcView v.3.0a with Network Analyst, Spatial Analyst, and for financial support for elaboration by Emergency Rescue Service of GIS applications, oriented at solution of practical problems, described in projects 1 and 2, for Kharkov city as a whole and for Kharkov region. And although the financing authorities did not provide necessary assets due to crisis in the national economy, the obtained results indicate to expediency of Esri software application to practical problems aimed at ensurance of the safety for population.

CONCLUSION

The described projects indicate that applicability advantages of GIS-technologies are not limited by visualisation only. Their main value GIS-technologies allow to solve problems, which are unsolvable or difficult to solve by mathematical methods. Attempt, for example, to solve by mathematics the problem of dangerous zone guarding posts minimisation, as illustrated on Fig. 1. As to calculation of flooding zones, the up-to-date science has no mathematical methods at all. It is solvable only by modelling, either physical (as it was done earlier) or on computer, with the help of modern GIS.
Described examples do not give a whole scope of GIS applications to solution of "unsolvable" problems. But even these two examples allow to draw very important conclusion:

GIS-technologies provide a novel method for solution of applicability problems. This method is alternative to mathematical methods which at present are considered by many specialists as the only providers of the scientific basis for quantitative calculations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express then gratitude to Charles Convis (Esri, USA) for donation for us ArcView GIS and to Eugene Seredinin (ECOMM, Ukraine) for practical steps enabling us to obtain this donation.
Authors are grateful to Valeriy Dyadyun and Igor Baranovsky for consultations in a matter of Esri software use.