Ontology enabled disaster management web service using data integration

Abstract

Meteorological disasters caused by extreme weather may result in damage to infrastructure, transport, livelihood, agro-industries and affects the overall economy of a country. To reduce losses due to disasters, an effective information retrieval system is required with the capability of dissemination of information about preparedness and an early warning to the disaster management authorities as well as individuals caught in the disaster. The paper presents an implementation of a web service that demonstrates archival and dissemination of disaster-related information, alerts to users in a platform-independent and machine-friendly manner. The proposed Web service processes MOSDAC INSAT3D satellite data. MOSDAC (Meteorological and Oceanographic Satellite Data Archival Centre) is a data repository of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Government of India that deals with meteorology, oceanography, and tropical water cycles. The proposed implementation of web service aims to disseminate rainfall data at a location, provide information about nearby places (e.g., airport, hotels, hospitals, information centers, etc.), and give specific location details (e.g., elevation, population, humidity, high-temp, low temp). Web service demonstrates the capability of dissemination of alerts, early warning related to rainfall, and information required to prepare better rescue plans, which will help individuals as well as disaster management authorities for disaster management.