A crisis response situation model

Abstract

The first challenge in crisis response management is the early damage and needs assessment based on all incoming information from various sources such as on field deployed sensors or human observations. Likewise, it is important for an efficient crisis response management to make sure that ambiguous terminology is clearly defined, and methodologies and indicators explained. To support the damage assessment, all the relevant items need to be formally modelled and represented in a machine-readable format. For that purpose, a formal ontology would provide the basis for the verbal description of the current situation understanding as well as the underlying semantics for any fusion related tasks and display operations.