Emergency Shelter Allocation Evaluation

Introduction

This project demonstrates how to make a spatial decision that determines the best use of monetary resources when further developing the emergency preparedness framework of a community. Spatial allocation decisions often can not be made most efficiently with consideration of only an independent variable, and scenarios often become multi-criteria based. This tutorial will demonstrate how this evaluation can be carried out using only Free and Open-Source Software(FOSS), particularly using the Quantum GIS (1.8.0) package and the GRASS Plugin.

Particularly the scenario that outlines what the objectives are for this tutorial involve the expansion of emergency shelters in Hawaii.

Data Collection

Setup

Install QGIS

Install GRASS Plugin

Preliminary Analysis

Deciding Area of Interest

Quantitative Map Output

Data Processing

Clipping to AOI

Dissolve AOI

Attribute table editing

Calculating Population Density

Deleting Attributes

Data Conversion

ESRI Shapefile to GRASS Vector

GRASS Vector to GRASS Raster with Attributes

Methods

Proximity Tool

Clipper Tool

Reclassify Rasters

Creation of Text files

Executing Tool

Suitability Calculation

Calculation Logic

Performing Calculation

Results

Decision Output

Optimal Resource Allocation Determined

Conclusions

References