How to use OSM Data and Latest Satellite Imagery for Humanitarian Missions

I have created this article in the hope of having the rescue and humanitarian efforts use the mapping data that came from a crowdsourced project called as Openstreetmap. The Openstreetmap data in the Philippines have been updated to record-breaking levels lately due to the call for worldwide mapping advocates to focus on the areas in the Philippines stricken by Typhoon Haiyan or locally known as Yolanda. Recently, the American RedCross and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have been extensively using the data to mobilize their relief missions in the country but unfortunately, Filipinos themselves are not exploiting the data to which the beneficiary of the advocacy must have been used by Filipinos in the first place. Media exposure is another thing as local media seems to be focusing more on government inefficiencies and foreign aids while forgetting to feature the most important aspect: How to deliver efficient relief missions.

Schadow1 Expeditions Blog Reaches Its First Year

It was a year ago around 4:00 AM of this same day when I decided to tinker with Blogger and made the first post a reality. It was a time when I decided to finally get my personal experiences of the country to the public and so as to inspire others to travel the Philippines more. Back then, it was my intention to bring the experience of traveling the Philippines with a niche to bring forth the importance of mapping the country that could lead to tourism improvement and more importantly ... so that a Filipino would not be a stranger to his own motherland. What has Schadow1 Expeditions become after a year of being online?

Maps at work - Typhoon Haiyan and the Worldwide Mapping Effort

Because of the strongest typhoon in history that hit the Philippines, Haiyan, locally known as Yolanda has brought about a worldwide collective effort in assisting the battered areas of the country. A worldwide crowd-sourced initiative has been activated to map the extremely devastated areas of the country due to the storm; to which relief efforts and rescue missions have been dependent immensely while at ground zero. It all started as a single call which escalated to a series of exponential response of mapping advocates around the globe to create a highly detailed and accurate map of the storm-stricken areas in the Philippines. A map to which many of the rescue and relief operatives have been using to mobilize their mission and strike right at the heart to where the community needs it.

Super Typhoon Yolanda, the Philippines and the Mapping Advocates

MTSAT Image of Haiyan pre-landfall

Super Typhoon Haiyan, locally known as Yolanda is the strongest typhoon recorded in modern history. Packing up winds of 320km/h with maximum wind gusts of up to 380km/h and having a forward velocity of 29km/h. That is the maximum state of the typhoon before it had its first ever landfall at Guiuan, Samar at exactly 5:00 AM local time (21:00 UTC) at dawn of November 8, 2013, Friday. From then, it has directed a straight swath of havoc from Eastern to Central and Western Visayas of the Philippines. The tragedy then has called for a collective effort of people with various expertise to assist on the post-disaster missions. This includes the need for an accurate map so as to distinguish areas of concern so that rescuers, and field workers may be able to do their job in clearing and rescue operations over the distraught islands that were a direct hit of the record-breaking typhoon.