Project for Risk Evaluation, Information and Early Warning (PREVIEW)

This application is the new generation of PREVIEW initiated in 1999 by UNEP. It is now supported by UNEP, UNDP/BCPR (GRIP), UNISDR and World Bank. The data presented here is the results of a two-year study made for the 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.

The outcomes presented in this application were developed by a large interdisciplinary group of researchers from around the world to make global disaster risk more visible – a key step towards mobilizing the political and economic commitment needed to reduce it.

Methodologies on hazards modeling were reviewed by a team of twenty-four independent experts selected by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Data is gathered through a network of partners – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Unites States Geological Survey (USGS), the Dartmouth Flood Observatory, the Smithonian Institute, the European Space Agency (ESA) and many others.

Data is being collected for the period 1975 – 2008 and updated once per year.

Models are applied to transform past hazardous events into spatial footprints. This process allows for the computation of human exposure to these events. By linking exposure with the associated losses, studies on human vulnerability can be made.

This data set has been used for many different reports.