Drones and crisis mapping - digital aid in Vanuatu

When Cyclone Pam, a Category 5 storm, tore through the island chain last month bringing surging seas and 250 kmh winds, a network of humanitarian data technicians quickly mobilized along with the traditional aid responders. “Digital humanitarians provide decision makers with a better understanding of a crisis by scouring for additional information – delivering a more rounded, a more complete picture,” said Andrej Verity of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Field Information Services.

The government, in conjunction with the World Bank, is using pilots from the Humanitarian UAV Network(UAViators) to provide detailed damage assessment imagery, which is analysed by crowd-sourced volunteers via Humanitarian OpenStreetMapandMicroMappers– both part of DHN.

http://www.irinnews.org/report/101362/drones-and-crisis-mapping-digital…