Colombia S2017
TASK To Be Assigned (Nevado del Ruiz)
Ian, Travis, Jesse, Evan
http://tasks.hotosm.org/project/2601
http://tasks.hotosm.org/project/2602
Task Assignments:
Evan will take the lead on Part 1 - everyone will help him with this as communication will be a large task
Ian will the lead on Part 2
Jesse will take the lead on Part 3
Travis will take the lead on Part 4 but will help with any part where a leader needs assistance.
The group is solid in its understanding that all members will assistance each other on all parts as needed.
Part I - Communication
1. The YouthMappers affiliate group, Grupo Mesh is a mapping program at the University of Guajira in Riohacha, Columbia. Students from the university’s environmental engineering department whom have interests in learning cartography and open street mapping participate in the Grupo Mesh program.
2. Communication with the Grupo Mesh program could aid both efficiency and depth of research. Information of the area of focus from a primary source provides a sundry of advantages and information that could possibly not be mentioned in text. With the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, information from (relative) locals would provide more detail regarding the exact damages of eruptions, ways locals assessed the damages and how they plan to mitigate the eruption’s effects. Information about the town of Guayabal, which was tasked to the Columbia group, and how the previous eruption in 1985 affected it would provide valuable knowledge on the importance of mapping the area assigned. The 1985 eruption and the lahars caused monumental damages to many of the surrounding areas, causing thousands of deaths and millions of dollars in indemnities.[1] Contact has been established with Zayra Oviedo, an affiliate at the University of Guajira, but with no response, currently. Though there is a difference in language between the two universities, there a resources available to reduce the complications of communicating. An interview with a USAID worker, focused on Columbia, provided the group with information of the organizational workings of disaster relief and research. A researcher from SUNY also provided valuable information on the political environment of mapping in Columbia and providing pertinent information for the task at hand.
Above is the email reaching out to the Grupo Mesh Team at Universidad de Guajira.
Above is a screen capture of an interview with a researcher from SUNY who provided valuable information on the political environment of mapping in Columbia and pertinent information for the task at hand.
Above is a screen capture of an interview with a USAID worker who created the task we are working on. He provided the group with information of the organizational workings of disaster relief and research for this region.
Works Cited
Nevado del Ruiz. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2017
Part II - Country Profile - Ian and Travis
1. Colombia:
(Ian Metcalf)
Population: 47,220,856 (Armero Guayabal: 11,812)
Religion: Roman Catholic (90%)
Language: Spanish
Government: Democratic
Credit: Bing Maps
Colombia is in Northwestern South America and it shares borders with Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Panama. The capital city of Bogota has the highest population at 9.765 million people. Over 11 million people live in rural areas and roughly 28 percent of Colombia’s population is considered impoverished, down from 49.7 percent in 2002 ("Columbia" 2015). The top exports of Colombia are oil (4th largest producer in South America) and coal (4th largest exporter in the world). The United States is Colombia’s largest trade partner, receiving 27.5 percent of exports ("The World Factbook" 2017).
Over the past 53 years, Colombia has been embroiled in warfare with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), among other agitators ("The World Factbook" 2017). The illicit drug trade of Colombia mainly fueled the turmoil. A peace treaty between the Colombian government and FARC was reached in late 2016 that ordered rebels to stand down and return to normal Colombian society ("The World Factbook" 2017). The conflict has forced over 6 million people from their homes to other places within the country since 1985 ("The World Factbook" 2017). Nearly half a million people have fled the country altogether ("The World Factbook" 2017). Although the peace treaty will weaken the rebel groups, drug production is still a major problem in Colombia.
2. USAID:
(Ian Metcalf)
USAID’s goal in Colombia is to combat and neutralize the negative outcomes from the ongoing conflict in the country and to aid in rebuilding a foundation for which the entire population can build upon and flourish. They have been working with Colombia almost since the war started, with ever-changing objectives. Currently, Colombia’s rural communities are suffering the most. USAID has numerous partnerships with the government and entities within Colombia to bring relief to these people. Since 2005 USAID has been working with the Colombian government to create laws and aid in restoring land to an estimated 1.5 million people who have lost their lands due to violence (Castillo, Piaskowy, Conaway, 2013). In 2012, the Land Restitution Unit was established under the guidance and monetary support from USAID to evaluate cases for restitution (Castillo, Piaskowy, Conaway, 2013). Other rural initiatives include providing funding and ideals for investment programs to bolster agriculture and small businesses. USAID also promotes environmental awareness in Colombia by showing people sustainable farming and ranching practices, with the goal of stopping deforestation and protecting native wildlife.
Credit: Oxfam staff in Colombia
One of USAID’s partnerships that is most relevant to our project is the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP). VDAP was created in the wake of the Nevado Del Ruiz eruption in 1986 by USAID and the U.S. Geological Survey. Their goal is to provide aid to victims of volcano eruptions. VDAP also shares technology and expertise with communities throughout the world to help prepare for future eruptions.
3. State of OSM:
(Travis Roper)
Colombia seems to have a large interaction with OSM like the United States, UK, and other countries in regards to the mapping for cities. However, a lot of the mapping is poorly represented because the further out from major cities you are, the quality of the information drops drastically due to bad imagery. For instance, I found an airport called Puerto Rico in the middle of Colombia that had a major road connecting to it. However, when I zoomed in, it was impossible to even tell that there was even an airport or road there. The picture below is a screenshot of just how bad it was.
Credit: OSM
Colombia is a large country and to have so much land mass with imagery like this one above really hinders our ability to accurately map the country. While the rural areas are nearly impossible to discern, our task of mapping Armero-Guayabal is mostly decipherable. The imagery is much better than Puerto Rico Airport but it is still difficult to decide where one building ends and where another begins.
Credit: OSM
Before we began our edits, there were only the roads, city line, and a couple parks labeled. This was a great start for us but we began to slowly realize that whoever made this data was using some bad imagery because all of the roads are offset and on top of buildings instead of the roads themselves. The entire northeastern section of the town experiences the worst of these effects and we will work hard to fix this error.
Credit: OSM
This is a screenshot of a section of Bogotá. As you can clearly see, the mapping efforts in the larger cities are much more precise and detailed than the rural areas of Colombia. Ian, Jesse, Evan, and I are making contributions for our project of mapping Amero-Guayabal and there are 10 users in Colombia mapping the country. They go by the usernames Angoca, Federico Explorador, Fredyrivera, Hyances, Ikks, Jorarome, Julian254, Lulslero, Mariotomo, and Siklosib.
Works Cited
30 Years of the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program. (2016). USAID. Retrieved from https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/working-crises-and-conflict/volcano-disaster-assistance-program
Category:Users in Colombia. (2016, November 13). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Category:Users_in_Colombia
Colombia. (2015). The World Bank. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/country/colombia?view=chart.
Castillo, A. M., Piaskowy, A., & Conaway, J. (2013, Jan. & feb.). For Colombians Displaced by Conflict, New Land Laws May Line a Path Home. Retrieved from https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/frontlines/risk-resilience-and-media/colombians-displaced-conflict-new-land-laws
OpenStreetMap. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=11/4.5983/-74.1965
OpenStreetMap. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=armero%20guayabal#map=15/5.0317/-74.8846
OpenStreetMap. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=puerto%20rico%20airport#map=15/2.9419/-73.2039
Our Town. (2012). Alcaldía de Armero Guayabal. Retrieved from http://www.armeroguayabal-tolima.gov.co/index.shtml#3
The World Factbook: Colombia. (2017). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/co.html
Part III - Briefings - Jesse
1. What is this problem about?
The problem that is being addressed by USAID and OFDA, among other government agencies, is the potential for another devastating eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano (NRV). NRV is located approximately 130 km west of Bogotá in Tolima, Colombia. On 13 November 1985 the NRV erupted from the Arenas crater, melting part of the glacial cap of the volcano and triggering massive lahars (volcanic mudflows). The lahars moved down the volcanoes eastern flank and entered into the river valleys at the base of the volcano. One of the lahar flows travelling down the Lagunilla River valley engulfed the town of Armero killing roughly 23,000 people (VolcanoDiscovery). A ramping up of recent thermal activity has been detected through remote sensing and satellite imaging leading the science community to believe that another eruption is imminent (Londono, 2016). Current tasks for the acquisition of open data have been created in the towns of Guayabal and Honda based on their location. These two towns lie in the path of the 1985 lahar flows and thus are top priorities for gathering of open spatial data in the interest of avoiding another disaster.
What are the dimensions of this problem worldwide? In your country (Colombia)?
The dimensions of this problem within Colombia are first and foremost loss of life and destruction of property. Based upon the raw destruction of the 1985 eruption, steps must be taken to ensure the Armero Tragedy is not repeated. In an interview with a researcher of volcanoes in South America, it was stated that there is a plan in place for a current eruption of the NRV, but no contact with the Colombian government has been established to date to verify or elaborate on these evacuation plans. To put it in a monetary context, the cost of the destruction in the 1985 Armero disaster was roughly $7 billion (How Volcanoes Work). On a global scale, glacier-capped volcanoes like NRV generate a significant threat for lahars that must be addressed. Volcanoes such as Mount Rainier in Washington and Cotopaxi in Ecuador have displayed similar destructive capacities to NRV. The danger of glacier-capped volcanoes is their destructive capacity with relatively small eruptions (Worni, et al. 2011). As previously stated, these volcanoes usually generate lahars and have the potential to create millions of dollars in damage and massive loss of life. Communities in proximity to these types of volcanoes must be prepared for the destructive potential exhibited in Armero. The best start to addressing the dimensions of the glacier-capped volcano problem on a global scale is the continued gathering of open spatial data to assist in preparedness and relief in the event of an eruption for surrounding communities.
What are the risks?
The largest risk is the generation of lahars during eruption. Gas, heat, and volcanic material released during eruption mix with melted glacial water and generate pyroclastic flows that can travel hundreds of miles and wipe out anything in their path (Vasquez, et al. 2014).
What is happening in the specific country you are working on with respect to this problem?
Since the comparatively small eruptions in 2015-16, a new increase in seismic activity suggests that the NRV may erupt again soon (Londono, 2016). Researchers and government agencies both in Colombia and abroad have been working on gathering data that may give more insight into the timeframe of the potential eruption (White, 2015). This data is being used to generate models for where the eruption may occur and the potential volume of the eruption that may be generated.
Who is affected and how?
Many communities exist around the base of the NRV and all of these communities are at risk. With the lahars from the 1985 eruption traveling up to 60 miles from the Arenas crater, the area for potential destruction is massive. In an interview with Keifer Gonzalez, a USAID/OFDA GIS Specialist, he stated that many communities around the NRV are very small, and some towns are simply abandoned making it difficult to pinpoint the number of people that would be affected by an eruption. He also stated that while open spatial gathering tasks only exist thus far for the communities of Guayabal and Honda, that it was the intention of USAID/OFDA to create tasks for other communities around the volcano so that more complete spatial data could be gathered and used in preparedness and relief efforts.
2. What solutions are offered to address/mitigate/recover from this problem? What does this mean for resilience?
As previously stated, in an interview with a volcano researcher in South America, there is a plan created by the Colombian government in place but no contact has been established with them that has been made available for review. In the interview with Keifer Gonzalez, he stated that USGS had strong ties with the Colombian government and would be hosting Colombian scientists during the month of March to further address the issue. Mitigation techniques have been suggested for similar volcanoes such as Cotopaxi. These techniques are centered on embankment dams whose purpose is to stop or redirect flow in the event of lahar generation during eruption (Rodriguez, et al. 2016). No information was found on if this is being considered at the NRV. Based on the lack of information it is difficult to speculate at this early stage of research on what this means for resilience around the volcano.
3. What are you mapping exactly (features) and how can mapping these features help make communities more resilient in light of this problem?
The task that our team is currently working on is the Guayabal-Armero task #2601. The purpose of this task is to map roads, buildings and bridges within the city limits of Guayabal-Armero. Mapping the buildings in this task does several things. In some cases it can allow relief workers to roughly estimate population size once the buildings that are specific to residence have been identified. This would help relief workers know how many people to look for in the event of an emergency. It can also assist in resilience because it allows relief workers to identify the location of specific structures if they were destroyed. Mapping roads and bridges are extremely important in this specific task for resilience. Mapping roads allows for preparedness in the creation of evacuation plans. Knowing where the roads are will allow for the safest routs out of the city to be identified. Bridges are very important because of the threat of lahars. If a lahar were to move through the city there is a good chance it would move through the waterways and under bridges. It is possible that these bridges could be wiped out making the roads they connect impassable. This information allows the creation of a plan routed around these potential hazards creating a safer evacuation.
What would be the next mapping steps to advance this work after you complete the remote maps?
The next mapping step would be to have locals or those with knowledge of the area come in and identify the structures specifically for what they are (i.e. restaurant, home, school). Once this is completed an evacuation plan can be mapped using the created open spatial data. Once this has been completed for this community new tasks can be created for other communities all around the NRV and the process can be repeated. The accumulation of all this data will create the safest and most specific emergency response plan. Though nature is unpredictable, this will give the best chance for the preservation of property and human life.
Works Cited
“How Volcanoes Work – the Nevado del Ruiz eruption.” (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2017, from http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Nevado.html
Londono, J. M. (2016). "Evidence of recent deep magmatic activity at Cerro Bravo-Cerro Machín volcanic complex, central Colombia. Implications for future volcanic activity at Nevado del Ruiz, Cerro Machín and other volcanoes." Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 324: 156-168.
“Nevado del Ruiz.” (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/nevado_del_ruiz.html
Rodriguez, F., et al. (2016). "Economic risk assessment of Cotopaxi volcano, Ecuador, in case of a future lahar emplacement." Natural Hazards 85(1): 605-618.
White, R. and W. McCausland (2016). "Volcano-tectonic earthquakes: A new tool for estimating intrusive volumes and forecasting eruptions." Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 309: 139-155.
Worni, R., et al. (2011). "Challenges of modeling current very large lahars at Nevado del Huila Volcano, Colombia." Bulletin of Volcanology 74(2): 309-324.
Part IV: Bibliography
see the bottom of each section for included works cited lists.
FINAL STORY MAP: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapTour/index.html?appid=45edba05011a48829117d911a47b738c