2016 Volume 14 Pages 116-127
In disaster responses, it is fundamental to unify recognition and understanding of spatial conditions. It is also important to share and collaboratively apply geographical information with the use of a geographic information system (GIS). Disaster Volunteer Centers (VCs), one of the leading actors involved in the restoration and recovery of damaged areas, are only able to effectively achieve this by utilizing geographical information through GIS. Therefore, through actual case studies, during which the authors visited the damaged areas after the occurrence of disasters, and during which fieldwork and research supported the use of GIS, the geospatial information and utilization method were clarified. The disasters in these case studies include: the tornado on May 6, 2012 (Tsukuba City, Ibaraki), the earthquake in the northern region of Nagano Prefecture in November 2014 (Hakuba Village, Nagano), and the Kanto-Tohoku torrential rains in September 2015 (Jousou City, Ibaraki). Based on these three case studies, the information to be created, acquired, and shared were clarified. The geospatial information which the disaster VCs utilized was shared. As further studies, the necessity of standardized operations for the disaster VCs; the preparation of support tools, including GIS; and the establishment of a system to sharing geospatial information from the disaster prevention-related institution were indicated.
