Several organisations have their own mapping units that typically produce situation maps, both in the field and at headquarters. ERS should provide these units with specific maps and also with GIS-ready data for inclusion in an individual organisation’s situation reports. For these products, feedback from field operators is often essential to create a valuable product. Direct and close contact with the user is therefore important, and should be established via the Emergency Support Focal Point.

These products can be provided for all phases of the crisis cycle and will be usually delivered by the Emergency Support Service, except Refugee/IDP products and evacuation plans which are also available in the Emergency response phase (rush mode).

Hazard

Hazard mapping products represent specific situations that pose a level of threat to life, the environment and infrastructure. The analysis is dependent on the threat, data availability and time, and may contain, for example, disaster prone areas, historical data, return period (or recurrence interval, an estimate of the interval of time between disaster events), geological features or hydraulic modelling.

Often, this information layer will be not provided as a separate map product but combined with another requested preparedness / prevention product.

Vulnerability

Vulnerability means the susceptibility of people, infrastructure, the environment and/or cultural heritage to a hazard. The analysis depends on the threat, data availability and time. Often, this information layer will be not provided as a separate map product but combined with another requested preparedness/prevention product.

Key assets

Key assets mapping comprises critical infrastructure and assets that are essential to managing an efficient response to a potential disaster. In general, this information layer will be not provided as a separate map product but integrated into another requested preparedness / prevention product.

Detailed Damage assessment

Detailed damage assessment is an in-depth analysis of the damage to settlements, infrastructure or the environment. This product is provided in the recovery phase after a disaster . Therefore, it usually has a higher accuracy than emergency products produced in rush mode.

Medium-term impact

Medium-term impact products contain an analysis of changes in, for example, land-use or topography due to a disaster that have a mid- to long-term impact to people or society.

Recovery status

As with vulnerability mapping, organisations working in the post-disaster reconstruction / recovery arena often require geographic information. This may include a variety of themes including current land cover, environmental changes, etc. This product type is of high interest to a number of UN agencies and national civil protection organisations.

Recovery status products provide an overview on the status of recovery and reconstruction in a disaster-affected area including statistical analyses of features detectable with EO data. This product is often combined with other product layers, e.g. key assets.

Refugee /IDP

Refugee / IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) products contain features connected to displaced persons, e.g. location of refugees / IDPs, population movements or monitoring of shelters and camps. These products can also be provided within the emergency response phase in rush mode.

Location mapping

Situation analysis

The situation analysis of refugee / IDP concentrations and the surrounding area provides a more detailed and comprehensive picture of the local situation, thereby assisting humanitarian actors engaged in the multi-faceted roles of humanitarian assistance.

The analysis may include, for example, key assets, shelter and building extraction, population changes or environmental resource monitoring.

Evacuation plan

During an ongoing or upcoming emergency, the population may need to be evacuated from an area experiencing, or under threat from, a natural disaster, humanitarian aid emergency or complex emergency.

This plan aims to support decision making regarding evacuation activities using Earth Observation (EO) data as a primary input.

It will support the decision maker in deciding the optimal routes for evacuation, identifying areas suitable for the relocation of the population, localizing spots for the operations of helicopters or analysing potential hazards in the area that may become a danger to the population. This product can also be requested within the emergency response phase in rush mode.

Information dossier

Information Dossiers are documents of up to 15 pages, designed for use by desk officers. They contain detailed information on the situation, the data and the analysis.

They can be provided alongside map products in order to give additional information and support to the interpretation of the map, or to highlight any special features detected.

In rush mode, an Information Dossier is generally only produced in cases where no map products can be provided. Reasons for not providing map products could be the lack of useful satellite imagery (e.g. due to cloud cover), a lack of visibility in the imagery of phenomena of interest (e.g. due to the nature of the phenomena or unsuitable satellite imagery) or that the quality of the available imagery does not allow interpretation of sufficient confidence.

In such cases, a dossier can be provided in order to explain the situation to the user and summarize information which, whilst extractable from the imagery, may be not suitable for map production.