Post-disaster map builder: Crowdsensed digital pedestrian map construction of the disaster affected areas through smartphone based DTN

Abstract

Constructing digital pedestrian maps of the disaster affected areas is a vital requirement for post-disaster relief operation. Digital maps help disaster management agencies in decision making and mobilizing the manpower and resources in the disaster affected areas. However, due to the intermittent connectivity after large scale natural disasters, the existing web based digital mapping systems remain inaccessible in the disaster affected areas. Moreover, the road networks in such areas change drastically because of disaster (for instance waterlogging due to flood, structural collapse or incidental destructions like a landslide). Hence, existing analog (paper based) route maps of such areas become obsolete. In this work, we propose Post-Disaster Map Builder, a crowdsenced digital pedestrian map construction system over smartphone based DTN. The proposed system generates digital pedestrian maps of the disaster affected areas using battery powered mobile handheld devices. Here, trajectory traces collected by the volunteers are periodically shared among the other volunteers of the disaster affected area through smartphone based DTN. Pedestrian maps of the disaster affected areas are gradually constructed in the mobile handheld devices of the volunteers by combining the collected traces over time. The proposed system is thoroughly evaluated through simulation and testbed implementation. The results reveal that our proposed system can automatically construct digital pedestrian maps of disaster affected areas with high accuracy at the cost of marginal delay.