GIS Module for Vesuvius - DMU Sri Lanka

Knowledge required: PHP, MySQL, Javascript, AJAX

An instance of Vesuvius is being built for the Disaster Management Unit at the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka. This particular customization focuses heavily on the medical aspects of emergency response, with a distributed network of medical Focal Points maintained as the key action centers around the country. A set of new modules are being added/existing modules being customized to fit the requirements provided by liaisons at the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) Sri Lanka.

GIS is a vital tool in disaster management and there are many uses of it. Parallel to the latest modifications and developments in Vesuvius, a new GIS module is planned. After completion, the GIS module should be able support the Disaster Managers/Decision Makers by providing valuable information throughout the disaster management cycle (I.e: Pre-disaster and Post disaster). Initially the GIS module will be developed targeting one selected district. The GIS module should have the following;

• Demarcations of GN areas within the district
• Population data
• Water resources (lakes, rivers, main distribution centers)
• Forests, bare land, etc
• Elevations
• Important public offices (police, army camps, GN offices, AGA offices, DS offices, etc)
• Hospitals
• Roads
• Religious places
• Pre identified safe areas for temporary shelters, in floods, tsunamis, etc

GIS module will be developed as a separate module and will be integrated with ‘Sahana-DMU’ at deployment. Therefore, a basic idea about the modules in ‘Sahana-DMU’ is necessary. User requirements of the GIS module will vary depending on the phase of the disaster management cycle (Pre-disaster and Post disaster). Some of the common requirements that must be fulfilled include;

• Pre-disaster
  • Visualize data in different layers, highlight high risk centers (points),
• Post-disaster
  • Add disaster data to respective layers (Data gathered through RAT module), Ability to demonstrate selected indicators. e.g. Distance to the nearest hospital from the disaster area, population affected, etc

• Disaster Management Information System
• Project Proposal
• Supporting Modules

Mentors : Roshan Hewapathirana, Prasanna Weerakoon (PGIM), Akila Perera, Ramindu Deshapriya

Project proposal : GSoC 2014 Sahana GIS Proposal