DAMSE, an integrated system to support emergency management and monitoring of dams in earthquake prone areas

This paper addresses the challenges of supporting emergency management in the deployment of operations in an earthquake prone area characterized by the presence of large dams. An information system is designed, aimed at enhancing the capabilities of decision makers and responders throughout the evolution of a seismic crisis. The system is composed of three different tools: a WebGIS platform in GeoNode environment, an online form for supporting dam inspections and a mobile application to perform data collection campaigns. The core of the infrastructure is to provide prompt access to real time data and information to all users possibly involved in the emergency management cycle, to increase territorial knowledge and strengthen the communication during crises. Each of the three main tools has a specific role during the emergency, in addition, they support planning and recovery operations in the aftermath of an event and during peacetime. Aiming to show the operational potential of the proposed system, a simulation has been conducted on the case study of Ponte Cola dam, in northern Italy. The paper discusses the relevance of integrating communication flows in emergency management, as well as the technical challenges, limitations and possible future developments of the system.