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Now, software from IBM to predict natural disasters
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 22:22 IST
Armonk: IBM has developed a patented natural disaster warning system that uses analytics to improve the effectiveness and timeliness of post-event rescue efforts in cities. According to IBM, this technique can allow a system that accurately and precisely conducts post-event analysis of seismic events like earthquakes, as well as early warnings for tsunamis that can follow earthquakes.
The system also offers a means to accurately predict the location and timing of subsequent catastrophic events, which will further aid evacuation efforts, said the company. The invention allows to measure and analyze the damage zone of an earthquake to help prioritize emergency response needed following an earthquake.
The innovation requires a piece of software running on each machine in a data center that would gather data generated by vibration sensors, known as MEMS accelerometers, within computer hard disk drives to analyze information generated by seismic events. The technique used in this invention is enabled by collecting hard drive sensor data and transmitting it via high speed networking to a data processing center, which can analyze the data, classify the events, and enrich the data in real time.
Following rapid analysis of the hard drive data, it can be determined exactly when a seismic event started, how long a seismic event lasted, the intensity, the frequency of motion and direction of motion of a seismic event. The information is then delivered to decision makers for action, including the emergency response representatives, such as police and firefighters.
While the physics of earthquakes and earthquake detection is a well understood science, the seismograph technology used in this process is thinly distributed over a broad area around the world. Consequently, earthquake data is limited to a few geographical locations and little post-event analysis is available to aid emergency response. In addition, the seismographs do not provide fine-grained data about where emergency response is needed and cannot predict impending events, such as tsunamis.
IBM inventors Robert Friedlander and James Kraemer were issued U.S. Patent #7,693,663 "System and method for detection of earthquakes and tsunamis, and hierarchical analysis, threat classification, and interface to warning systems for their invention."