Real-Time Disaster Alerts: GDACS
GDACS provides near-real-time alerts about natural disasters around the world and tools to facilitate response coordination, including media monitoring, map catalogs and Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Center.
The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) is a web-based platform that combines existing web-based disaster information management systems with the goals of alerting the international community in case of major sudden-onset disasters and facilitating the coordination of international response during the relief phase of the disaster.
GDACS is comprised of the following elements:
- A set of standards to ensure interoperability between existing alert and response coordination systems
- A set of working procedures to ensure predictability and reliability of information creation and exchange during crisis response
- Stakeholders that commit to provide related information according to the standards and the working procedures
GDACS is to be activated in major natural, technological and environmental disasters, which overwhelm the affected country’s response capacity and require international assistance. The service will be active from the moment a major disaster is forecasted or has occurred until the end of the relief phase. The relief phase terminates when there is no further requirement for information exchange by responding organizations to coordinate their activities and the focus of international assistance shifts to rehabilitation and reconstruction. The duration of the relief phase can vary in disasters but is usually between three to four weeks. Early warning and rehabilitation/reconstruction will currently not be covered by GDACS.
Access to GDACS alert-notification and interactive components is restricted (password protected) to disaster managers in donor countries, response organizations and disaster-prone countries. In addition, GDACS will be accessible to the research community who analyze disaster impact and response activities to improve international disaster management.
Disaster alerts are triggered either automatically by the disaster monitoring and impact or loss estimation tool ASGARD after the event of a disaster, or through the Virtual OSOCC by any registered user who becomes aware of a major disaster. A thread of disaster discussions is established on the Virtual OSOCC when a disaster is significant for international responders, and will remain active until the end of the relief phase.
GDACS alert notification triggers the following responses:
Level I alerts:
- Disaster alert is sent to subscribers in case of automatic detection of a disaster by ASGARD
- A stakeholder triggers a disaster alert on the Virtual OSOCC
- ReliefWeb is activated (after the first OCHA or IFRC situation report)
- AlertNet trigger an alert based on internal evaluation of the event
Level II alerts:
- Disaster alert is sent to subscribers only after the Level I alert has been confirmed by GDACS Monitors. This is to ensure that subscribers can choose to be alerted only in disaster that have been analyzed as significant by experts and where international assistance is required.
