Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises

265 Pages·2007·7.77 MB·English

by  Methodologies, and Technologies to Estimate Subnational Populations at Risk Committee on the Effecti

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
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Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at

Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex

Humanitarian Crises

Committee on the Effective Use of Data, Methodologies,

and Technologies to Estimate Subnational Populations
at Risk, National Research Council

ISBN: 0-309-66672-4, 264 pages, 6 x 9, (2007)

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Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
Committee on the Effective Use of Data, Methodologies, and
Technologies to Estimate Subnational Populations at Risk
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Committee on Population
Division of Behavioral and Social Science and Education
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
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Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Acad-
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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTIvE USE OF DATA,
METHODOLOgIES, AND TECHNOLOgIES TO ESTIMATE
SUbNATIONAL POPULATIONS AT RISk
SUSAN L. CUTTER, Chair, University of South Carolina, Columbia
MARGARET ARNOLD, The World Bank/ProVention Consortium,
Washington, D.C./Geneva
DEBORAH BALK, City University of New York, New York
BELA HOVY, United Nations Population Division, New York
MEI-PO KWAN, Ohio State University, Columbus
JONATHAN D. MAYER, University of Washington, Seattle
DAVID R. RAIN, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
HAVIDAN RODRIGUEZ, University of Delaware, Newark
BARBARA BOYLE TORREY, Population Reference Bureau,
Washington, D.C.
BILLIE L. TURNER II, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
JOHN R. WEEKS, San Diego State University, California
TUKUFU ZUBERI, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
National Research Council Staff
ELIZABETH A. EIDE, Study Director (from January 2006)
HEDY ROSSMEISSL, Study Director (until January 2006)
CAETLIN M. OFIESH, Research Associate
TONYA FONG YEE, Program Assistant (from March 2007)
NICHOLAS ROGERS, Senior Project Assistant (from August 2006 until
March 2007)
AMANDA M. ROBERTS, Senior Project Assistant (until August 2006)
iv
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
gEOgRAPHICAL SCIENCES COMMITTEE
ROGER M. DOWNS, Chair, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park
BRIAN J. L. BERRY, University of Texas, Dallas
SUSAN L. CUTTER, University of South Carolina, Columbia
RUTH S. DEFRIES, University of Maryland, College Park
WILLIAM E. EASTERLING III, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park
PATRICIA GOBER, Arizona State University, Tempe
MICHAEL F. GOODCHILD, University of California, Santa Barbara
SUSAN HANSON, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
JONATHAN D. MAYER, University of Washington, Seattle
EMILIO F. MORAN, Indiana University, Bloomington
DAVID L. SKOLE, Michigan State University, East Lansing
National Research Council Staff
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Offcer
VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Associate
v
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
COMMITTEE ON POPULATION
KENNETH W. WACHTER, Chair, University of California, Berkeley
ANNE C. CASE, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
EILEEN M. CRIMMINS, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
BARBARA ENTWISLE, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
JOSHUA R. GOLDSTEIN, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
BARTHéLéMY KUATE DEFO, University of Montreal, Canada
CYNTHIA B. LLOYD, Population Council, New York
THOMAS W. MERRICK, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
RUBéN G. RUMBAUT, University of California, Irvine
ROBERT J. WILLIS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
National Research Council Staff
BARNEY COHEN, Director
ANTHONY MANN, Senior Project Assistant
vi
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
bOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville
M. LEE ALLISON, Arizona Geological Survey, Tucson
GREGORY B. BAECHER, University of Maryland, College Park
STEVEN R. BOHLEN, Joint Oceanographic Institutions,
Washington, D.C.
KEITH C. CLARKE, University of California, Santa Barbara
DAVID J. COWEN, University of South Carolina, Columbia
ROGER M. DOWNS, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
JEFF DOZIER, University of California, Santa Barbara
KATHERINE H. FREEMAN, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park
RHEA L. GRAHAM, Pueblo of Sandia, Bernalillo, New Mexico
ROBYN HANNIGAN, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro
MURRAY W. HITZMAN, Colorado School of Mines, Golden
V. RAMA MURTHY, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
RAYMOND A. PRICE, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada
BARBARA A. ROMANOWICZ, University of California, Berkeley
JOAQUIN RUIZ, University of Arizona, Tucson
MARK SCHAEFER, Global Environment and Technology Foundation,
Arlington, Virginia
RUSSELL STANDS-OVER-BULL, BP American Production Company,
Houston, Texas
BILLIE L. TURNER II, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
TERRY C. WALLACE, JR., Los Alamos National Laboratory,
New Mexico
STEPHEN G. WELLS, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada
THOMAS J. WILBANKS, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
National Research Council Staff
ANTHONY R. DE SOUZA, Director
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Offcer
ELIZABETH A. EIDE, Senior Program Offcer
DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Offcer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Offcer
ANN G. FRAZIER, Program Offcer
SAMMANTHA L. MAGSINO, Program Offcer
RONALD F. ABLER, Senior Scholar
vii
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
CAETLIN M. OFIESH, Research Associate
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Financial Associate
VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Associate
JARED P. ENO, Senior Program Assistant
NICHOLAS D. ROGERS, Senior Program Assistant
TONYA FONG YEE, Program Assistant
viii
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11895.html
Preface
We do not live in a risk-free society, and at any moment somewhere in
the world, resident populations are exposed or are responding to natural
or human-induced disasters that result in humanitarian crises. The number,
demographic characteristics, and locations of the populations at risk dur-
ing these crises are often imprecise or unknown, complicating or impeding
humanitarian relief and disaster response efforts. Population data—and the
tools and the persons trained to analyze and use them—are some of the
basic components of humanitarian response efforts and of development and
reconstruction programs.
Resource-poor nations have the greatest diffculty in obtaining, main-
taining, and making available their population databases for purposes of
development and humanitarian response and are more likely to require ex-
ternal support in responding to natural or human-induced disasters. How-
ever, as events surrounding Hurricane Katrina demonstrated, the existence
of adequate fnancial resources in the presence of good population data-
bases does not always guarantee a completely effective response to assist
a population in crisis. Effective use of existing population data in crisis or
planning situations also requires coordinated responses by decision makers
from national or international through local levels.
Improved estimation of populations at risk in resource-poor countries
and better use of population data in connection with planning and execut-
ing emergency and development aid programs has garnered international
attention from a wide spectrum of professionals. Descriptions relayed by
emergency workers regarding their planning for and execution of disas-
ter and complex humanitarian emergency responses have emphasized the
ix
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.