Crowd Sensing for Disaster Response and Preparedness

Introduction Crowd sensing systems are opening up a vast design space for crisis-response applications by collecting, recording, and using disaster information in context. We present a succinct overview of the recent developments of crowd sensing environments for disaster response and preparedness, and discuss how crowd sensing can be extended and integrated with external systems to make useful information available for citizens and professionals quickly. Some scholars talk about “human sensors,” “citizens as sensors” or “human-in-the-loop sensing” [1] suggesting the different roles humans can play in sensing disasters. We highlight the uses of social media and smartphone sensing in disaster situations, each requiring different levels of human involvement. We then introduce a general framework that focuses on the roles of crowd sensing in relation to external resources such as professionally managed high-quality sensors, disaster simulation systems, and “responsive objects.”