Disaster Mitigation Models for the City of Redlands

This is a Major Individual Project (MIP) project proposal by Renee Bousselaire from the University of Redlands MSGIS Program. We're glad to work with her, and will gradually add more content and rough examples of the models (with her permission) as they are developed.

Earthquake history shows that the southern San Andreas fault has earthquakes an average of once every one hundred and fifty years with a magnitude of 7.0 or greater. The last two major earthquakes on the southern San Andreas fault occurred in 1680 and 1812. Certain areas, close to San Bernardino County, are at risk because they have gone the longest without major earthquake activity (Jones, et al. 2008). Earthquake modeling has been conducted at the federal and state level for California, but the City of Redlands requires analysis at the city level. This project will demonstrate how ArcGIS spatial operators, ModelBuilder, and network functions can aid in disaster mitigation efforts for the City of Redlands, California. Based on predefined water pipeline breaks, the water response model will use geometric network features and Network Analyst to combine water pipeline and transportation networks to model which valves need to be turned off and how long it will take responders to reach the valves. The fire behavior model will use ModelBuilder and a variety of spatial operators to assign risk values to fuel loads, weather, and topography to create an output layer identifying probable fire locations. The models will serve as an introductory component of a larger disaster plan for the City of Redlands