Mapping Field Guide by MapAction (why/how to use mapping for disasters)
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from the doc, which is RICH with info about mapping...the whys and how-to's.
The Following is a Short Excerpt: (MUCH more in the doc itself)
Field Guide to Humanitarian Mapping
2 www.mapaction.org
1.2 How are maps useful in humanitarian work?
In everyday life, we may use maps mainly for navigation. In humanitarian work
however, the real power of maps is as a means of communicating and sharing the
complex information that is a crucial resource in emergency response. In such
situations, maps become vital tools for decision making.
“ Information is very directly about saving lives. If we take the wrong decisions, make the wrong choices about where we put our money and our effort because our knowledge is poor, we are condemning some of the most deserving to death or destitution.” John Holmes, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-
Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs 2007-2010
Of all the information needed in an emergency, the ‘where’ dimension is of crucial importance: aid in the wrong place is no help at all. Humanitarian emergencies typically affect large areas and often require responding organisations to make sense of unfamiliar geographical environments. Maps become important as tools to plan and coordinate relief interventions.
In the preparation of this guide, MapAction discussed the needs for mapping and
spatial information with users from a range of NGOs and humanitarian agencies,
as well as drawing on MapAction’s own experience in the field during
emergencies. Some of the insights gained are explored here.
The use of maps is not of course limited to the post-disaster response phase.
Maps are a prerequisite for understanding natural hazards, and communities’
vulnerability to them. Risk assessment by communities themselves can be
supported by mapping tools – including low- or no-tech methods involving little
more than sketches using paper and pencil. These methods are explored a little more in section 1.8.
“ In the pre-disaster context we would like to map vulnerability and develop
baselines for it. The data for these baselines would include scientific hazard data and the outputs from qualitative assessments at community level.”
Bhupinder Tomar, Senior Officer Disaster Preparedness, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
In the disaster response phase, maps can be invaluable for making sense of the
emergency and for planning response, both at individual organisation level and
for inter-agency coordination. There is a need for mapped information from the
earliest stage of response, during the search-and-rescue (SAR) phase. SAR teams
need ways to create rapid maps of their area of operations, for Urban SAR
(USAR) work this may require a high level of detail.