Abstract

The application of open-source data in the research field of disaster risk reduction is increasing. Flood hazard is a leading natural disaster and a significant threat to communities and infrastructure in Australia. Between 1967 and 2013, Australia suffered an annual economic loss of A$943 million due to the high frequency of flood occurrence. When dealing with flood disasters in Australia, it is vital to understand their deadly nature, trends in flood occurrence, and flood behaviour in local areas. This study discussed an innovative yet highly cost-effective platform that utilizes multiple open-source data for real-time flood monitoring and disseminates image-based flood information to the public at no cost. The methodology suggests combining data from various sources such as cloud imagery from NASA MODIS, JMA’s Meteorological Satellite Centre, NASA SRTM digital elevation, Google Earth, and GPS mobile applications to collect GPS, together with Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS) to produce real-time flood mapping and flood warnings. The role of the PGIS can be highlighted in the methodology since ground-level input from participants in flood-affected regions can be a reliable source of data to enrich flood-risk contents. The study aims to provide the public with flood maps and the latest flood relation satellite imagery, primarily through social media. The process assumes widespread smartphone usage among residents in flood-risk zones in Australia. The effectiveness of the approach described in this study can be enhanced by delivering micro-level, real-time flood risk information to bolster disaster awareness and preparedness in flood-prone areas.

Keywords:Flood risk map; GIS, Himawari; MODIS; Google Earth; GPS