BDD: Disaster Preparation and Response via Big Data Analysis and Robust Networking

灾害是具有可怕后果的事件，需要多个机构作出反应，并需要超出单一社区能力的资源。2011年东日本大地震等自然灾害可能威胁许多人的生命，并造成巨大的经济损失。通信对于灾难准备、响应和恢复至关重要，但在灾难期间可能会遭到破坏。在这个项目中，来自美国和日本的研究人员研究了利用可生存的通信网络和社交媒体数据的大数据分析进行灾难准备，响应和恢复的新方法。这项合作涉及灾害研究、社交媒体挖掘和大数据分析、网络科学、无线通信和机器学习方面的专业知识，以研究弹性网络架构和算法、灾害前的数据收集和分析以及灾害期间的决策和信息传播。弹性网络结合了有线和无线通信，以处理多个灾害引起的故障，旨在提供高效的算法服务于紧急应用。最先进的数据收集和分析技术将有助于建立一个重要的知识库，以便积极开展备灾工作。灾难期间的真实的实时决策和信息发布可以有效地协助灾难响应和恢复。该研究旨在为美国和日本的灾难准备，响应和恢复提供有价值的指导，并在可生存的通信网络设计和大数据分析方面开辟新的研究方向。该项目为美日两国进一步开展大数据分析和救灾研究合作提供了有利的环境。研究生将在这一国际研究项目中接受联合培训，积极合作开展拟议的研究任务。将特别努力让少数民族学生和代表性不足的群体参与进来。

Disasters are events with dire consequences, requiring multiple-agency responses and resources beyond the capability of a single community. Natural disasters, such as the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, can threaten the lives of many people and cause inordinate economic losses. Communication is critical to disaster preparation, response, and recovery, but may be damaged during the disaster. In this project, researchers from the US and Japan study novel approaches to disaster preparation, response and recovery using survivable communication networks and big data analysis of social media data. This collaborative effort involves expertise in disaster research, social media mining and big data analysis, network science, wireless communications, and machine learning, to examine resilient network architecture and algorithms, data collection and analysis before the disaster, and decision making and information dissemination during the disaster. The resilient network incorporates both wired and wireless communications to deal with multiple disaster-induced failures, aiming for efficient algorithms serving emergency applications. State-of-the-art data collection and analysis techniques will help build an important knowledge base in proactive preparation for disasters. Real time decision making and information dissemination during a disaster can assist disaster response and recovery effectively. The proposed research aims to provide valuable guidance for disaster preparation, response, and recovery for both the US and Japan, and spearhead a new research direction in survivable communication network design and big data analysis. This project provides a conducive environment to further research collaboration of big data analysis and disaster relief between the US and Japan. Graduate students will be jointly trained in this international research project to actively collaborate in carrying out the proposed research tasks. Special efforts will be made to engage minority students and underrepresented groups.