The Andean region is at high risk for natural disasters and the effects of climate change. Earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, volcanic eruptions, forest fires or floods occur here in very small spaces. Complex interactions can be investigated here. For example, heavy rainfall can cause a landslide, damaging a river and resulting in flooding. It is a natural laboratory for natural hazards. It is ideal place to develop scientific methods, better understand possible escalation chains and prevent future natural disasters. Through its cooperation with specialist groups from Chile, Ecuador and Peru, RIESGOS is geared to needs and practice.

To strengthen scientific exchange and dialogue with South American users, a delegation of eighteen German scientists and industry representatives travelled to the Andes region in April. The delegation was received by a series of light earthquakes over several days, which showed the direct relevance of the work in the study areas. In a dialogue with the local partners, it became clear that the severe earthquake of 2010 in particular has led to a change in consciousness when dealing with natural hazards. The earthquake and the resulting tsunami caused 500 deaths and caused tens of billions of dollars worth of economic damage. Civil protection was improved and investments were made in research in the following years. These are changes that RIESGOS can draw on today.

The two-day project workshops in Santiago de Chile, Lima and Quito focused on new multi-risk assessment methods. On the basis of selected scenarios for floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, the question of: "What would happen if ...?" was discussed along with possible interactions and cascade effects, and their plausibility was examined. The findings from the multi-risk scenarios will be transferred to system components and web services in the next step. Using these web-based application services, decision-makers and other players can then later create hazard analyses and simulate scenarios with complex risk chains in a multi-risk information system demonstrator.

After more than two intensive weeks of workshops and bilateral meetings, the RIESGOS team drew an entirely positive conclusion. The response from the South American partners was also very good. Together, they want to drive research activities and system development and design prototype modules for future risk information systems.

The Earth Observation Center (EOC) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is developing new algorithms in the field of artificial intelligence as part of the project. For the estimation of risks, potentially affected objects such as buildings and infrastructures must be characterised in detail. For this purpose, automated methods are being used which extract the necessary information from satellite data and ground-based surveys, thus allowing for comprehensive mapping.

With RIEGOS, the EOC can further develop its expertise in generating remote sensing-based information products for natural disasters such as floods and volcanic eruptions. The methodical and technical work on the scenario-based system demonstrator will supplement and accompany existing development at the institute.

About the project

RIESGOS is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the "CLIENT II - International Partnerships for Sustainable Innovation" funding measure of the "Research for Sustainable Development (FONA3)" research programme. Project Management Jülich is looking after the project in a technical and administrative capacity on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Research. The RIESGOS project consortium consists of the following academic research institutions and industrial partners: The German Aerospace Center, German Research Center for Geosciences, Alfred Wegener Institute, Technical University of Munich, 52°North, geomer GmbH, EOMAP GmbH & Co. KG, plan + risk consult, DIALOGIK. The following associated partners are supporting the project: GIZ, UNOOSA / UN-SPIDER, UNESCO and MunichRE. RIESGOS is cooperating with a large number of research partners and authorities in the South American partner countries of Chile, Ecuador and Peru and plans to expand this cooperation throughout the course of the project.

This article was published online on June 11, 2018. The text is published here courtesy of the DLR Earth Observation Center.