ABSTRACT UTILIZATION OF CROWDSOURCING AND VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION IN INTERNATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT by Julaiti Nilupaer Large-scale disasters result in enormous impacts on vulnerable communities worldwide, and data acquisition has become a major concern in this time-critical situation: the limitations of geospatial technologies impede the real-time data collection, also the absent or poor data collection in some regions. With the current advances of Web 2.0, crowdsourcing and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) have become commonly used. As a potential solution to fill the gap of real-time geographic data, crowdsourcing and VGI enable timely information exchange through a voluntary approach and enhance amateur citizen participation. Importantly, such geographic information can substantially facilitate emergency coordination by fulfilling the needs of impacted communities and appropriately allocating relief supplies and funds. My research interest centers on the utilization of crowdsourcing and VGI for disaster management. Particularly, I work to explore their potential value and contributions by reviewing two notable and destructive disaster events as case studies: the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, and the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan. In addition, I examine the challenges of this information and seek potential solutions. This research aims to contribute a comprehensive qualitative analysis of how Volunteer and Technical Communities (V&TCs) have used crowdsourced data and VGI to enhance the coordination of disaster management. UTILIZATION OF CROWDSOURCING AND VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION IN INTERNATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Julaiti Nilupaer Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2019 Advisor: Stanley Toops Reader: John Maingi Reader: Mary Henry © 2019 Julaiti Nilupaer This Thesis titled UTILIZATION OF CROWDSOURCING AND VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION IN INTERNATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT by Julaiti Nilupaer has been approved for publication by The College of Arts and Science and Department of Geography ____________________________________________________ Stanley Toops ______________________________________________________ John Maingi _______________________________________________________ Mary Henry Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1Introduction 1 1.2 Research Questions 3 1.3Case Studies 4 1.3.1 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (Japan) 5 1.3.2 2013 Typhoon Haiyan (the Philippines) 5 1.4 Thesis Organization 6 Chapter 2: Literature Review 7 2.1 Introduction to Literature Review 7 2.2 Defining Disaster 7 2.2.1 The Contexts of Disaster 7 2.2.2 Hazard Vs. Disaster 8 2.2.3 Distinctions between Emergency, Disaster, and Crisis 9 2.2.4 Vulnerability, Resilience, and Risk 9 2.3 Disaster Management 11 2.3.1 Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness 12 2.3.2 Disaster Response and Recovery 13 2.4 GIS and Disaster Management 14 2.4.1 Evolution of GIS 15 2.4.2 The Role of GIS in a Disaster Management Cycle 15 2.4.2.1 GIS in Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness 16 2.4.2.2 GIS in Disaster Response and Recovery 17 2.4.2.3 GIS, Local Knowledge, and Disaster Management 18 2.4.3 Limitations of GIS in Disaster Management 19 2.5 Evolution of Web 2.0 20 2.5.1. Defining Web 2.0 20 2.5.2 Strengths and Potential Flaws 21 2.5.3 Core Concepts: Neogeography and Map Mash-ups 21 2.6 Crowdsourcing and VGI 22 2.6.1 Defining Crowdsourcing 22 2.6.2 Defining VGI 23 2.6.3 VGI Vs. Crowdsourcing 24 2.6.4 Contributions of VGI and Crowdsourcing for Disaster Management 25 iii 2.6.4.1 VGI in Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness 25 2.6.4.2 VGI in Disaster Response and Recovery 26 2.6.5 Challenges of VGI and Crowdsourcing for Disaster Management 27 2.6.5.1 Participant Motivation 27 2.6.5.2 Data Collection 28 2.6.5.3 Data Availability 29 2.6.5.4 Legal Issues 30 2.6.5.5 Data Quality 30 2.7 Conclusion to Literature Review 31 Chapter 3: Methods and Data Sources 32 3.1 Introduction to Methods and Data Sources 32 3.2 Bibliographic Review 32 3.2.1 Bibliographic Review Process 32 3.3 Document Analysis 33 3.3.1 ‘Document’ 33 3.3.2 Strengths and Potential Flaws 34 3.4 Secondary Data 34 3.4.1 The Contexts of Secondary Data 34 3.4.2 Advantages and Limitations 35 3.5 Conclusion to Methods and Data Sources 35 Chapter 4: Results 43 4.1 Introduction to Results 43 4.2 Review Results from Selected Research Papers 44 4.2.1 Classification by Contribution Year 48 4.2.2 Classification by Subject Areas 49 4.2.3 Classification by Institute Countries 50 4.2.4 Classification by Disaster Phases 51 4.2.5 Classification by Media 52 4.2.5.1 Volunteer and Technical Communities (V&TCs) 54 4.3 Review Results from Selected Documents 56 4.3.1 Classification by Document Types 57 4.3.1.1 Document Types on the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami 57 4.3.1.2 Document Types on the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan 58 4.3.2 Classification by Document Sources 59 iv 4.3.2.1 Document Sources on the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami 59 4.3.2.2 Document Sources on the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan 60 4.3.2.3 Examples of Document Sources 60 Humanitarian Organizations 61 Crowdsourcing Communities 61 GIS Communities 62 4.3.3 Role of the Documents - Complementary or even Supplementary Data Source 62 4.4 Conclusion to Results 63 Chapter 5: Discussion 64 5.1 Introduction to Discussion 64 5.2 Stepping into a New Era – Milestones of Initiating VGI and Crowdsourcing Projects as well as Interfaces 66 5.2.1 Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) Project - Emergence of ‘Crisis Mapping’ 66 5.2.2 Post-Election Crisis in Kenya - Formation of Ushahidi 67 5.2.3 The First Interface between Worldwide Experts - ICCM Conference and Formation of Crisis Mappers Network 69 5.2.3.1 Physical Setting: ICCM Conference in 2009 69 5.2.3.1 Online Setting: Formation of Crisis Mappers Network 71 5.3 Continuing to Facilitate the Dialogues between Formal Humanitarian Organizations and Volunteer & Technical Communities (V&TCs) 72 5.3.1 2010 Haiti Earthquake 72 5.3.2 Introduction of Formal Humanitarian Organizations and Volunteer & Technical Communities (V&TCs) 73 5.3.3 Issues between Formal Humanitarian Organizations and Volunteer & Technical Communities (V&TCs) 73 5.3.4 Addressing Some Issues: Formation of Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and Standby Task Force (SBTF) 74 Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) 74 Standby Task Force (SBTF) 75 5.4 Case Study 1: 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami 75 5.4.1 OSM 76 5.4.1.1 QualityStreetMap (v.2) - New Coordinator Tool 77 5.4.2 Sinsai.info – A Collaboration between OSM, Ushahidi and SBTF 80 5.4.2.1 How Does Sinsai.info Work for Citizens? 83 v 5.4.3 Safecast 87 5.4.4. ALL311 91 5.4.5 ESRI Social Media Map 92 5.5 Further Formalization of the Dialogues between Two Groups - Establishment of Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) 94 5.6 Case Study 2: 2013 Typhoon Haiyan 95 5.6.1 OSM 96 5.6.1.1 ‘Notes’ - New OSM Feature 97 5.6.1.2 Tasking Manager – New Tool for Mapping Disaster Response (online contribution) 98 5.6.1.3 OpenMapKit (OMK) – New Tool for Mapping Disaster Recovery (onsite contribution) 100 5.6.2 Ushahidi 106 5.6.2.1 ‘Haiyan.Crowdmap’ 106 5.6.2.2 ‘Philflood.Map’ 109 5.6.3 MicroMappers – A New Tool by SBTF, GIS Corps and ESRI 111 5.6.3.1 Image Clicker and Image Geo Clicker 112 5.6.3.2 Tweet Clicker and Tweet Geo Clicker 114 5.6.4 Google Crisis Response 118 5.7 Conclusion to Discussion 119 Chapter 6: Conclusion 121 6.1 Answering Research Questions 121 Research Question 1: How has the use VGI and Crowdsourcing enhanced the coordination across the four stages of a disaster management cycle? 121 Research Question 2: What have been the challenges of using VGI and crowdsourcing, and what are the potential solutions? 134 6.2 Challenges of This Research 142 6.2.1 Language Barrier 142 6.2.2 Unavailable Data Sources 142 6.2.3 Closed Data Sources 143 6.3 Contributions to Geography 143 6.4 Recommendations for Future Research 144 Appendix 1: Selected Research Papers on the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami 145 Appendix 2: Selected Research Papers on the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan 146 Appendix 3: Selected Documents on the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami 148 Appendix 4: Selected Documents on the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan 150 vi References 152 vii List of Tables Table 1.1 Intensity, Demographic Impacts, and Economic Impacts of Two Case Studies Table 4.1 Bibliographic Review Process Table 4.2 Numbers of Selected Research Papers from Each Database Table 4.3 Results from Selected Research Papers Table 4.4 Distribution of Discussed Media Table 4.5 Distribution of Papers by Discussed V&TCs Table 4.6 Summary of Selected Documents on Two Case Studies Table 4.7 Numbers of Studies on Each V&TC Table 4.8 Summary of Targeted V&TCs that Mostly Discussed on Research Papers (R) and/or Documents (D) Table 5.1 Evolution of Using VGI/crowdsourcing from 2007-2013 Table 6.1 Eleven Advantages of Using VGI/Crowdsourcing in Disaster Management Table 6.2 Comparison of the Characteristics of OSM in Two Case Studies Table 6.3 Comparison of the Characteristics of Ushahidi in Two Case Studies Table 6.4 Technological Advancements of OSM and Ushahidi in Two Case Studies Table 6.5 Six Challenges of Using VGI/Crowdsourcing in Disaster Management viii List of Figures Figure 2.1 Disaster as the Interface between Hazard and Vulnerability Conditions Figure 2.2 Phases and Activities of Disaster Management Figure 3.1 Bibliographic Review Process Figure 4.1 Distribution of Papers by Contribution Year Figure 4.2 Distribution of Papers