Valuation of Applications Benefits Linked with Earth Science (VALUABLES) Consortium
- Lead PI: Andrew J. Kruczkiewicz
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Unit Affiliation: International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI)
- November 2021 - March 2022
- Inactive
- Global
- Project Type: Research
DESCRIPTION:
Earth scientists and remote sensing experts provide satellite-based decision support tools to local users who make decisions on logistic assistance for disaster risk management - including disaster preparedness, response and recovery. In these decision contexts, it is necessary to understand:
Who the decisionmakers are, how the decisions are made, the different forms of information used and their appropriateness (or inappropriateness) for informing the intended decisions, how Earth Observations can complement or enhance information currently used within the intended decisions. However, in practice, data products provided to the humanitarian sector often do not match the needs of decisionmakers, or they get "thrown over the transom" and decisionmakers struggle to understand which products to use.
Objectives:
In this project, researchers from the VALUABLES Consortium and Columbia University will develop a set of guidelines and best practices for Earth scientists to better understand how decisions are made in the humanitarian sector and how information influences these decisions.
Significance:
An improved understanding of these decision contexts can help make the process of producing data for decision support more efficient and promote socioeconomically meaningful applications of Earth Observations. Project outputs will provide researchers with Earth science backgrounds with a starting point for understanding how information influences these decisions, which in turn can inform researcher decisions about algorithm and tool development (e.g., what gets measured, how to make tools easy to use). Project outputs can also help develop methodologies and practices for prioritizing across applications and informing design of new satellite missions.