Data Fusion Analysis and Synthesis Framework for Improving Disaster Situation Awareness

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 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.