{"id":94111,"date":"2019-01-21T13:15:20","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T12:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=94111"},"modified":"2026-01-20T10:30:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T09:30:01","slug":"students-map-disaster-zones-for-emergency-aid-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/01\/21\/students-map-disaster-zones-for-emergency-aid-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Students map disaster zones for emergency aid workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t be surprised if you\u2019ve never heard of a mapathon. That\u2019s because the first mapathon in the Netherlands was only organised in March 2018 in Maastricht. This week, the Red Cross\u2019s Rotterdam Student Desk is holding a mapathon on campus where participants will map disaster zones using satellite images.<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Mapathon is the Dutch version of the Missing Maps project, which aims to help aid workers operate as effectively as possible when they arrive in a disaster zone. On Tuesday, 22 January, the Red Cross, in collaboration with students from Rotterdam, wants to make a detailed map of a region along the banks of the Zambezi River in Zambia, an area that runs a high risk of flooding.<\/p>\n

No prior experience needed<\/h2>

It sounds complicated, mapping areas using satellite images. Julia Teeuwen, a 21-year-old history student who does marketing activities for the Rotterdam Student Desk, thought so too. \u201cMapping a particular area seemed like difficult work to me, but what\u2019s great about this project is that you don\u2019t need any prior experience in this field. Red Cross employees will give you a step-by-step explanation of how \u2018mapping\u2019 works and they\u2019ll be available the entire evening to assist participants.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan for the evening is to map the \u2018Barotse floodplain\u2019. This is a region along the banks of the Zambezi in Zambia that runs a high risk of flooding. Considering the river\u2019s length of 2574 kilometres, dikes aren\u2019t a feasible solution. That\u2019s why the Zambian Red Cross requested that this area be mapped so that floods would not have catastrophic effects. However, in the event there\u2019s an emergency call for assistance due to a disaster occurring somewhere else in the world next week, that disaster zone would naturally be given mapping priority.<\/p>\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAysha Gasanova<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Hurricane Irma<\/h2>

Teeuwen explains exactly what the students will do: \u201cYou zoom in on satellite images of the specific area and you then look for major roads and junctions and important buildings such as hospitals. You then link all these points together by looking for roads.\u201d Everything is then entered into OpenStreetMap.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Medicine and Philosophy student Bethel Habtemicael, secretary of the Rotterdam Student Desk, offers an example of what Missing Maps has already achieved. \u201cAfter St. Martin was hit by hurricane Irma on 6 September 2017, the entire island was in ruins and no longer resembled older satellite images. Using the maps made by Missing Maps, aid workers were able to trace where buildings stood before the disaster and look for missing persons at these sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Habtemicael is hoping that a large number of participants will sign up. \u201cThere\u2019s room for 150 students, and the more people who show up, the larger the area that gets mapped.\u201d The mapathon will take place in computer rooms, so participants don\u2019t need to bring their own laptops. They\u2019ll even be serving French fries, promises Habtemicael.<\/p>\n\t

\n\t\t

What you need to know:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Date: Tuesday, 22 January<\/p>\n

Time: 18:00 to 20:30<\/p>\n

Location: Erasmus University Rotterdam, the exact location will be provided after you have signed up<\/p>\n

Participation: free of charge<\/p>\n

Sign up at this link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t