MCN301 DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Mr. ATHUL SATHYANATH

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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ASSESSMENT PATTERN

Marks Distribution :

Continuous Internal Evaluation Pattern :

Attendance : 10 marks
Continuous Assessment - Test : 25 marks
Continuous Assessment - Assignment : 15 marks
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OBJECTIVE
 The main aim of this course is to introduce the fundamental concepts
of HAZARDS and DISASTER MANAGEMENT.

 HAZARD

 DISASTER – Unexpected and unfortunate event causing significant destruction.

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OBJECTIVE

 Major course motives :

 Various terminologies in disaster management cycle.

 Different hazard types and vulnerability assessment.

 Apply appropriate methodologies to assess risk.

 Disaster Risk Management – Core elements and phases.

 Disaster Response – Factors and actions.

 National/International level legislations and practices.

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SYLLABUS

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SYLLABUS

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SYLLABUS

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SYSTEMS OF EARTH

• LITHOSPHERE -
 The lithosphere is the rigid, outermost shell on Earth. It is composed of the crust and the portion of the
upper mantle that behaves elastically on time scales of thousands of years or greater.

 The thickness of the lithosphere varies; it's thickest below the continents and thinnest at the mid-
ocean ridges, raised areas of the seafloor where new seafloor crust is formed.

 The surface is subject to processes of erosion, weathering and transport, as well as to tectonic forces
and volcanic activity, which result in the formation of landforms such as mountains, hills and plateaux.

COMPOSITION:

The earth’s crust is not a homogeneous substance; it has different layers of rocks including sedimentary
rocks on top, granitic and metamorphic rocks in the middle, and basaltic rocks on the bottom.

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Earth has four concentric zones:

• The innermost zone is the Inner core. This zone is a solid mass of iron which has a
radius of about 1,216 km, covering the inner core is the outer core.
• Outer core is a layer of molten liquid containing nickel and iron. It is about 2,270
km thick.
• The outer core is covered by solid Mantle, which is about 2,900 km thick.
• The outermost hardened exterior zone is known as Crust. The crust varies in
thickness from about 5 km. The crust and the mantle which is hard and brittle is
LITHOSPHERE.

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• Lithosphere is the outer layer (oceanic
and continental) of earth that includes
the crust and solid part of the mantle.
• There are two types of lithosphere, the
oceanic lithosphere which is about 5 km
to 8 km thick composed of basalt and the
continental lithosphere which is 30 km
to 40 km thick.
• The lithosphere contains minerals, rocks
and soil. It has more than 100 chemical
elements and most of them are rare.
More than 99 percentage of the volume
includes elements like oxygen, silicon,
aluminium, iron, calcium, sodium,
potassium and magnesium.

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ROCKS

• Lithosphere has various types of rocks

• Rocks are naturally occurring hard and consolidated inorganic
materials, composed of one or a large number of minerals. Certain
other materials, like coal and limestone are developed from plant and
animal remains.
The different types of rocks are:
1. Igneous Rocks
2. Sedimentary Rocks
3. Metamorphic Rocks

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IGNEOUS ROCKS

• These rocks are formed by solidification of magma in the interior, or

lava on the surface of earth.
• Igneous rocks are composed of primary minerals, which are
predominantly silicates.
• Igneous rocks sometimes overlap with sedimentary and metamorphic
rocks.

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SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

• Sedimentary rocks are formed by the precipitation from solutions,

and consolidation of remnants of biotic components like plants and
animals.
• These rocks contain both original primary minerals (Quartz, Mica) and
altered as well as newly synthesized secondary minerals (Clay, calcite,
gypsum).

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METAMORPHIC ROCKS

• Also known as Thermal rocks they are formed from pre-existing rocks
(igneous or sedimentary) due to change in the temperature and
pressure in solid state is known as metamorphic rocks.
• These rocks are formed when magma intrudes through pre-existing
igneous or sedimentary rocks.
• All types of pre-existing rocks could undergo metamorphism.
• Further, igneous and metamorphic rocks get weathered and form
sediments. These sediments get deposited and lithified into
sedimentary rocks.

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SOIL

• Soil is the surface layer of the land.

• It is a natural body that contains a variable mixture of
broken and weathered materials and decaying organic
matter, which covers the earth in a thin layer.
• It takes long period of time for the soil to form through the
natural process.
• The formation takes place from the weathering and
decomposition of rocks and minerals.
• Soil is a dynamic layer of earth’s crust which is constantly
changing and developing. The upper limit of soil is air or
water and its lateral margins grade to deep water or barren
areas of rock or even ice.

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Soil accomplishes various functions, which include the following:

1. It provides mechanical support to the plant.

2. It has the ability of holding water as it has the property of porosity. This
ability makes soil a reservoir of water.
3. Soil provides micro and macro nutrients, as well as ideal pH required for the
growth of the micro-organisms, plants and animals.
4. Soil prevents excessive leaching of nutrients.
5. Soil houses bacteria that fix nitrogen and other elements; fungi, protozoa
and other micro-organisms. These organisms aids in the decomposition of
organic matter.

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ATMOSPHERE
 This is the gaseous layer surrounding the earth and held to its surface by gravity. The atmosphere
receives energy from solar radiation which warms the earth's surface and is re-emitted and
conducted to the atmosphere.

 The atmosphere also absorbs water from the earth's surface via the process of evaporation; it
then acts to redistribute heat and moisture across the earth's surface. In addition, the
atmosphere contains substances that are essential for life, including carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and
hydrogen.

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The Earth’s atmosphere is divided into four layers or ‘spheres’. Each layer is
characterized by a different gradient of the temperature as a function of altitude.
• Troposphere
The troposphere (between 0 and about 15 kilometers) is the first layer above the Earth’s
surface and contains approximately 85 to 90 % of the mass of the Earth’s atmosphere. It
is characterized by decreasing temperature with increasing altitude.
The troposphere’s thermal profile is largely the result of the heating of the Earth’s
surface by incoming solar radiation. Heat is then transferred up through the
troposphere by a combination of convective and turbulent transfer. Weather occurs in
the Earth’s troposphere.
• Stratosphere
In the stratosphere (between approximately 15 and 50 km) the temperature rises as a
function of increasing height.
This warming is the result of the direct absorption of solar radiation by the ozone layer,
thereby preventing a large part of harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun to reach
the Earth’s surface.
• Mesosphere
The mesosphere is the next layer of the atmosphere (from 50 to 90 km), characterized
by temperatures that decrease the further up one goes to an average of -90°C.
A lot of meteors burn up in this layer while entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
• Thermosphere
Thereafter the thermosphere takes over where temperatures increases steadily with
altitude. It is the layer of the atmosphere which is first exposed to the Sun’s radiation.
The thermosphere also includes the ionosphere, a region of the atmosphere that is
filled with charged particles, where especially the auroras occur.
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HYDROSPHERE
 This consists of those parts of the earth system composed of water in its liquid, gaseous (vapour)
and solid (ice) phases.

 The hydrosphere includes: the earth's oceans and seas; its ice sheets, sea ice and glaciers; its
lakes, rivers and streams; its atmospheric moisture and ice crystals; and its areas of permafrost.
The hydrosphere includes both saltwater and freshwater systems, and it also includes the
moisture found in the soil (soil water) and within rocks (groundwater).

 Water is essential for the existence and maintenance of life on earth. In some classifications, the
hydrosphere is sub-divided into the fluid water systems and the cryosphere (the ice systems).

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BIOSPHERE
 This contains all living organisms and it is intimately
related to the other three spheres: most living
organisms require gases from the atmosphere,
water from the hydrosphere and nutrients and
minerals from the geosphere.

 Living organisms also require a medium for life, and

are adapted to inhabit one or more of the other
three spheres.

 Humans are part of the biosphere, although they

are increasingly responsible for the creation of
systems that may be largely artificial (such as cities).
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INTERACTION BETWEEN SYSTEMS

• Event

Volcano >> lithosphere >> atmosphere >> hydrosphere >> biosphere

Volcanoes (an event in the lithosphere) release a large amount of particulate matter into the
atmosphere.

These particles serve as nuclei for the formation of water droplets (hydrosphere). Rainfall (hydrosphere)
often increases following an eruption, stimulating plant growth (biosphere).

Particulate matter in the air (atmosphere) falls out, initially smothering plants (biosphere), but ultimately
enriching the soil (lithosphere) and 4 thereby stimulating plant growth (biosphere).

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CYCLONES

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ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATIONS

• When Earth rotates on its axis, the rotation

causes the deflection in the wind flow due to
Coriolis force.
• In addition to this, a low pressure belt is
formed over the tropical regions, since the
equatorial region is heated throughout the
year. This belt is called the Inter-Tropical
Convergent Zone (ITCZ). This zone is also
known as doldrums.
• This is not a conspicuous belt, but a
discontinuous one that fluctuates in its
position and intensity.

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Even with disruptions like weather fronts and storms, there is a consistent
pattern to how air moves around our planet’s atmosphere. This pattern, called
atmospheric circulation.
This is caused because the Sun heats the Earth more at the equator than at the
poles. It’s also affected by the spin of the Earth.
In the tropics, near the equator, warm air rises. When it gets about 10-15 km (6-9
miles) above the Earth surface it starts to flow away from the equator and
towards the poles.
Air that rose just north of the equator flows north. Air that rose just south of
the equator flows south. When the air cools, it drops back to the ground, flows
back towards the Equator, and warm again. The, now, warmed air rises again,
and the pattern repeats.
This pattern, known as convection, happens on a global scale. It also happens on
a small scale within individual storms.
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 OZONE LAYER
The ozone layer is found in the lower portion of the earth’s
atmosphere. It has the potential to absorb around 97-99% of
the harmful ultraviolet radiations coming from the sun that
can damage life on earth. If the ozone layer was absent,
millions of people would develop skin diseases and may have
weakened immune systems.
• How is Ozone created?
When the sun’s rays split oxygen molecules into single atoms,
Ozone is created in the atmosphere. These single atoms
combine with nearby oxygen to form a three-oxygen
molecule — Ozone.
• Why is Ozone Layer important?
Ozone protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays
from the Sun. Without the Ozone layer in the atmosphere,
life on Earth would be very difficult. Plants cannot live and
grow in heavy ultraviolet radiation, nor can the planktons that
serve as food for most of the ocean life. With a weakening of
the Ozone Layer shield, humans would be more susceptible
to skin cancer, cataracts and impaired immune systems.

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 OZONE LAYER DEPLETION
• Some compounds release chlorine and bromine on exposure to high ultraviolet light, which then
contributes to the ozone layer depletion. Such compounds are known as Ozone Depleting Substances
(ODS).
• The ozone-depleting substances that contain chlorine include chlorofluorocarbon, carbon
tetrachloride, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and methyl chloroform. Whereas, the ozone-depleting
substances that contain bromine are halons, methyl bromide, and hydro bromofluorocarbons.
• Chlorofluorocarbons are the most abundant ozone-depleting substance. It is only when the chlorine
atom reacts with some other molecule, it does not react with ozone.
• Montreal Protocol was proposed in 1987 to stop the use, production and import of ozone-depleting
substances and minimise their concentration in the atmosphere to protect the ozone layer of the
earth.

Vienna Convention 1985  Montreal Protocol 1987  Kigali Agreement 2016

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 OZONE LAYER DEPLETION
• Depletion/Thinning of the Ozone Layer occurs globally, but the severe depletion of the Ozone Layer
over the Antarctic is often referred to as the ‘Ozone Hole’. Increased depletion has recently started
occurring over the Arctic as well.

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WEATHER AND CLIMATE

• In most places, weather can change from minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, day-

to-day, and season-to-season. Climate, however, is the average of weather over
time and space.
• An easy way to remember the difference is that climate is what you expect, like a
very hot summer, and weather is what you get, like a hot day with pop-up
thunderstorms.

• What is a Season?
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, and the number
of daylight hours in a particular region. Seasons are a result of the earth’s changing
position with regard to the Sun. In most areas of the earth, there are four seasons
in the year: spring, summer, fall/autumn, and winter.

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GREENHOUSE EFFECT

• Greenhouse gases help stabilize the warming effect in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides.

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GREENHOUSE EFFECT

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INDIAN MONSOON

Generally, across the world, the monsoons are experienced in the tropical area
roughly between 20° N and 20° S.
The climate of India is described as the ‘monsoon’ type. In Asia, this type of climate
is found mainly in the south and the southeast.
Out of a total of 4 seasonal divisions of India, monsoon occupy 2 divisions, namely.
• The southwest monsoon season - Rainfall received from the southwest
monsoons is seasonal in character, which occurs between June and September.
- Arabian Sea branch, Bay of Bengal branch.
• The retreating northeast monsoon season - The months of October and
November are known for retreating monsoons.
- October heat, Tropical cyclones.

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Impact of Monsoons on Life in India

Positive
• About 64% of people in India depend on agriculture for their livelihood and agriculture
itself is based on monsoon.
• Agricultural prosperity of India depends very much on timely and adequately distributed
rainfall. If it fails, agriculture is adversely affected particularly in those regions where
means of irrigation are not developed.
• Regional variations in monsoon climate help in growing various types of crops.
• Regional monsoon variation in India is reflected in the vast variety of food, clothes and
house types.
• Monsoon rain helps recharge dams and reservoirs, which is further used for
the generation of hydro-electric power.

Negative
• Variability of rainfall brings droughts or floods every year in some parts of the country.
• Sudden monsoon burst creates a problem of soil erosion over large areas in India.
• In hilly areas sudden rainfall brings landslide which damages natural and physical
infrastructure subsequently disrupting human life economically as well as socially.
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HAZARD MAPPING

• Hazard mapping involves a graphical representation of the location,

magnitude and temporal characteristics of hazards on 2 or 3
dimensional surfaces.

• The objective of this it to represent the spatial and temporal

characteristics of the hazard as well as its magnitude using graphical
symbols.

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Different Categories of Hazard
• Hazard can be categorized based on their origin, that is, whether they are
natural, human-induced or technological.

Natural hazards are phenomena experienced in the physical environment

which are harmful to humans and caused by forces for which there is no
control.
Examples of natural hazards are floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and
hurricanes.

Human-induced hazards are changes of natural processes within the earth’s

system caused by human activities which accelerate or aggravate damaging
events.
Oil spills, atmospheric pollution, and major armed conflicts are some of such
hazards.
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• Technological hazards are dangers caused by technological or industrial
accidents, infrastructure failures or certain human activities.

Nuclear activities and radioactivity, dam failures, transport, industrial or

technological accidents (explosions, fires, spills) are some of the
technological hazards.

Hazards can be single (such as volcanoes and earthquakes), sequential

(such as flood) or combined (such as earthquake accompanied by tsunami)
and, as a result, causing a flood or torrential rains leading to landslides in
their origin.
Each hazard is categorized by its location, intensity, occurrence, probability,
duration, distance, speed of onset, spatial dispersion and temporal spacing.

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DATA REQUIREMENTS OF HAZARD MAPPING

Spatial characteristics such as location, distribution and dimension;

temporal (duration and speed of onset) and magnitude are the major
data requirements for hazard mapping.

Such information can be obtained through the following sources:

Base Maps
Remotely Sensed Images
Field data

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Base maps
• Base maps represent topographic layers of data such as elevation, roads, water bodies,
cultural features and utilities.
• It must be plan metric, i.e., a representation of information on a plane in true geographic
relationship and with measurable horizontal distances.
• It must orient the user to the location of the hazard.

Remotely sensed images

• Satellite images are sources of readily available information of locations on the earth’s
surface compared to conventional ground survey methods of mapping that are labour
intensive and time consuming.
• Depending on the sensor type or capabilities (spatial resolution, spectral resolution,
radiometric resolution and temporal resolution), different images may be obtained from
different service providers to feed into the information extraction process.
• RADARSAT, TerraSAR-X, ALOS and LIDAR, for instance, are some of the sensors that
produce Digital Elevation Model (DEM) depicting topography.
• GeoEye, QuickBird and ALOS-PRISM are preferred sensors for visual mapping as they are
of high spatial resolutions.

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Field data
• Ground surveying methods using electronic survey systems like Total Station, the
global positioning systems (GPS) and Laser Scanners, have all greatly increased
opportunities for data capture in the field.

Hazard mapping using GIS (Geographic Information System)

 GIS (as a tool in risk assessment), in conjunction with remote sensing and
photogrammetry, can be used to identify hazards. Seismic faults and flood prone
areas can be identified by scientists using GIS to analyse satellite image, aerial
photos and field survey data.
 GIS provides an excellent basis for processing and presenting hazard information
in the form of maps.
 GIS is very useful in arranging a high volume of data necessary to produce a
hazard map.
 The three-dimensional representation available in modern GIS offers opportunity
to model hazard.

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 The policy objective of anticipating and reducing risk is called disaster risk
reduction (DRR). Although often used interchangeably with DRR, disaster risk
management (DRM) can be thought of as the implementation of DRR, since it
describes the actions that aim to achieve the objective of reducing risk.
 Disaster risk is an indicator of poor development, so reducing disaster risk
requires integrating DRR policy and DRM practice into sustainable development
goals.
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• Since we cannot reduce the severity of natural hazards, the main
opportunity for reducing risk lies in reducing vulnerability and
exposure.
• Reducing these two components of risk requires identifying and
reducing the underlying drivers of risk, which are particularly related
to poor economic and urban development choices and practice,
degradation of the environment, poverty and inequality and climate
change, which create and exacerbate conditions
of hazard, exposure and vulnerability.
• Addressing these underlying risk drivers will reduce disaster risk,
lessen the impacts of climate change and, consequently, maintain the
sustainability of development.

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• Exposure is defined as “the situation of people, infrastructure, housing,
production capacities and other tangible human assets located in hazard-
prone areas”. As stated in the UNIDRR glossary, “measures of exposure can
include the number of people or types of assets in an area. These can be
combined with the specific vulnerability and capacity of the exposed
elements to any particular hazard to estimate the quantitative risks
associated with that hazard in the area of interest”.

• Vulnerability is defined as “the conditions determined by physical, social,

economic and environmental factors or processes which increase the
susceptibility of an individual, a community, assets or systems to the
impacts of hazards”. Vulnerability is multi-dimensional in its nature.
Examples include, but are not limited to; poor design and construction of
buildings, inadequate protection of assets, lack of public information and
awareness, high levels of poverty and education, limited official recognition
of risks and preparedness measures, disregard for wise environmental
management or weak institutions, and governance (e.g. including
corruption etc.).

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We need to manage risks, not just disasters.

DRR is a part of sustainable development, so it must involve every part of

society, government, non-governmental organizations and the professional and
private sector. It therefore requires a people-centred and multi-sector
approach, building resilience to multiple, cascading and interacting hazards
and creating a culture of prevention and resilience.

DRM includes strategies designed to:

• Avoid the construction of new risks
• Address pre-existing risks
• Share and spread risk to prevent disaster losses being absorbed by other development
outcomes and creating additional poverty
Although DRM includes disaster preparedness and response activities, it is
about much more than managing disasters.
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Disaster risk management involves activities related to:

Prevention
• Activities and measures to avoid existing and new disaster risks (often less costly than disaster
relief and response). For instance, relocating exposed people and assets away from a hazard area.
Mitigation
• The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters. For instance,
constructing flood defences, planting trees to stabilize slopes and implementing strict land use
and building construction codes.
Transfer
• The process of formally or informally shifting the financial consequences of particular risks from
one party to another whereby a household, community, enterprise or state authority will obtain
resources from the other party after a disaster occurs, in exchange for ongoing or compensatory
social or financial benefits provided to that other party. For instance, insurance.
Preparedness
• The knowledge and capacities of governments, professional response and recovery organisations,
communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from the impacts
of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions. For instance, installing early warning
systems, identifying evacuation routes and preparing emergency supplies.

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