Related Publications
[Aksit23]
Aksit, M., Disaster management by process automation in smart cities’, Abstracts of WEC 2023 7th Word Engineers Convention, Prague, pp. 23- ,11-13 October 2003
Introduction
This article seeks an answer to the question of how we can minimize the possible damages of disasters by using management systems based on software technologies. As an example of disasters, this article focuses on earthquakes, but the proposed approach is applicable to other kinds of disasters as well. Current earthquake management procedures rely heavily on manual methods. Due to chaos conditions created by large scale disasters such as earthquakes, manual methods make it almost impossible to manage disasters efficiently and effectively. For example, the processes such as detecting the damages caused by earthquakes, discovering the locations of living persons under the rubble, determining the optimal composition of task forces required for aid operations, and tracking and controlling the intervention activities are extremely difficult to realize manually. In general, existing software systems for disaster management are database systems designed for monitoring and analysis, and as such their architectural style is not suited well for end-to-end process automation. As a result of the joint research studies carried out with the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency in Ankara, the essential requirements for an effective and efficient earthquake management processes are determined and prioritized. Accordingly, the approach described in this article is adopted. The contribution of this article is to identify the key technological issues that are necessary to design a disaster management system based on process automation.
Notes
This publication gives a general introduction to the ADOPTS approach.
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[AksitSayErenCamargo23]
Aksit, M., Say, H., Eren, M. A. and de Camargo, V. V. "Data Fusion Analysis and Synthesis Framework for Improving Disaster Situation Awareness" Drones 7, no. 9: 565, 2023
Abstract
To carry out required aid operations efficiently and effectively after an occurrence of a disaster such as an earthquake, emergency control centers must determine the effect of disasters precisely and in a timely manner. Different kinds of data-gathering techniques can be used to collect data from disaster areas, such as sensors, cameras, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Furthermore, data-fusion techniques can be adopted to combine the data gathered from different sources to enhance the situation awareness. Recent research and development activities on advanced air mobility (AAM) and related unmanned aerial systems (UASs) provide new opportunities. Unfortunately, designing these systems for disaster situation analysis is a challenging task due to the topological complexity of urban areas, and multiplicity and variability of the available data sources. Although there are a considerable number of research publications on data fusion, almost none of them deal with estimating the optimal set of heterogeneous data sources that provide the best effectiveness and efficiency value in determining the effect of disasters. Moreover, existing publications are generally problem- and system-specific. This article proposes a model-based novel analysis and synthesis framework to determine the optimal data fusion set among possibly many alternatives, before expensive implementation and installation activities are carried out.
Notes
The concept of situation awareness has been studied extensively and applied in several areas such as disaster management. We consider situation awareness as the first important step in (resource-management- based) disaster management platforms that we have been researching.
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[ArslanAksit23]
Arslan, R.; Aksit, M. Chapter 7 – Event-based digital-twin model for emergency management, in Emergency Management, in Management and Engineering of Critical Infrastructures, 1st ed.; Tekinerdogan, B.; Aksit, M.; Catal, C.; Hurst, W.; AlSkaif, T., Eds.; Academic Press, 2023.
Abstract
Critical infrastructures are required to be monitored and eventually rescued, for example due to natural and/or man-made disasters. These control activities are among the fundamental tasks of emergency management systems. We consider distributed digital-twin based control architectural styles as natural candidates in structuring emergency management systems. Due to their physically distributed nature, critical infrastructures and the associated emergency management systems are inevitably linked with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Emergency management activities, however, require domain-specific GIS data models and event-based platforms to support digital-twin based control. Unfortunately, current GIS systems are not expressive enough to fulfill these requirements. Moreover, due to the distributed and heterogeneous nature of such digital-twin based architectures and lack of standards, preserving the consistency of data can be difficult. To overcome the expressivity problem of the current GIS systems, this chapter extends the GIS system CityGML with a set of new abstractions. Data inconsistency problem is addressed by a novel architecture, which includes an atomic publisher-subscriber protocol and event-based layer on the top of a GIS database. The architecture is simulated and verified by a model-checker.
Notes
Our approach to disaster and emergency management, consists of the following phases: Awareness, Demand generation from disaster situation, Optimization of allocation of resources to demands, Performance of the overall process is evaluated according to the predefined criteria, Tracking utilization of the allocated resources and Simulation of disaster situations to define, learn and optimize the processes. Throughout these phases, modeling is an important aspect of processing. Digital-twin models are assumed to be the most suitable approach for this purpose.
TekinerdoganAksitCatalHurstAlSkaif23
Tekinerdogan, B., Aksit, M. Catal, C., Hurst, W. and AlSkaif, T. Management and Engineering of Critical Infrastructures, 1st edition, Academic Press, 2023.
Abstract
Management and Engineering of Critical Infrastructures focuses on two important aspects of CIS, management and engineering. The book provides an ontological foundation for the models and methods needed to design a set of systems, networks and assets that are essential for a society's functioning, and for ensuring the security, safety and economy of a nation. Various examples in agriculture, the water supply, public health, transportation, security services, electricity generation, telecommunication, and financial services can be used to substantiate dangers. Disruptions of CIS can have serious cascading consequences that would stop society from functioning properly and result in loss of life. Malicious software (a.k.a., malware), for example, can disrupt the distribution of electricity across a region, which in turn can lead to the forced shutdown of communication, health and financial sectors. Subsequently, proper engineering and management are important to anticipate possible risks and threats and provide resilient CIS. Although the problem of CIS has been broadly acknowledged and discussed, to date, no unifying theory nor systematic design methods, techniques and tools exist for such CIS.
Notes
Disaster and emergency management systems are critical systems. As such, almost all chapters in this book are relevant.​
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[YazarAksit23]
[Yazar, U. T. and Aksit, M, 'Chapter 10— An architectural framework for the allocation resources in emergency management systems’, in Management and Engineering of Critical Infrastructures, 1st ed.; Bedir Tekinerdogan, Mehmet Aksit, Cagatay Catal, William Hurst, Tarek Alskaif, Eds.; by Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2023
Abstract
Emergency management systems are considered critical systems. It is, therefore, necessary that emergency management systems operate with high effectiveness and efficiency. This requires accurate detection of emergency conditions and optimal allocation of the available resources. In the case of large-scale disasters and insufficient resources, however, manual prioritizing and compromising resources can be extremely difficult. This chapter proposes a novel architectural framework that automatically converts emergency reports to a set of rescue tasks to be scheduled. If tasks cannot be scheduled as desired due to the conflicts in allocating resources, control algorithms are applied. This architecture allows introduction of new disaster types and control strategies if needed. The framework is designed and implemented in a simulated environment and its utility is tested with various emergency scenarios.
Notes
This publication, is related to the Demand generation from disaster situation and Optimization of allocation of resources to demands as defined by the ADOPTS approach.
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[Aksit22]
Aksit, M. A System Architecture for IoT-based Earthquake Management, in 1st Workshop on Earthquake and Software Engineering in Seismic Risk Management, pp. 14-17, May 26, 2022.
Abstract
Current earthquake management procedures rely heavily on manual methods. These methods fall short of managing the aftermath of a large-scale earthquake and minimizing damages. This article identifies the technical issues required to implement a software-assisted earthquake management system and offers an architectural solution. To the best of our knowledge, an original study proposing an 'end-to-end' IoT-based earthquake management system has not yet found its place in the literature sufficiently.
Notes
This article is published in Turkish.
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