Risk & Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: Theoretical Background and Applied Methods for the Identification of the Most Endangered Populations in Two Case Studies at Different Scales

Disasters are of major global concern and reducing disaster risk is an urgent priority for the humanitarian / development community worldwide. Nearly every country in the world is affected by natural hazards but natural disasters cause most damage and fatalities in developing countries. For the sake of improved disaster management and the reduction of disaster impacts it is necessary to know where the people who are most at risk are living. Therefore, the focus of this book is on populations threatened by natural disasters. Stefan Schneiderbauer develops the theoretical base and applicatory methods to support information generation before and during crisis situations. His work reviews definitions of crucial terms in the realm of disaster management and elaborates on the concept of vulnerability. It proposes a methodology for the identification of hot spots worldwide regarding people confronted with natural hazards at sub-national scale. Supported by modern technologies, namely GIS and remote sensing, the author presents new approaches to improve the spatial resolution and accuracy of population data in those areas where existing census is insufficient.