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GCRIDisaster Resilience and RecoveryIn development
STEM foundation

STEM foundation of Disaster Resilience and Recovery

The science, technology, engineering and mathematics Disaster Resilience and Recovery rests on. Each method has a canonical page in the STEM Commons, hosted by GCRI, and a page here on how it is applied in this field.

Open Decision analysis for disaster risk Back to Disaster Resilience and Recovery
Publisher
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation
Field
Disaster and crisis, Climate and hazards
Canvas · methods feeding this platformDesign, not a record
STEM foundation of Disaster Resilience and Recovery: from damage assessment to recoveryDamage and losses are assessed by sector, recovery needs are costed with build-back-better standards, a recovery framework sets priorities and financing, and implementation is monitored with communities. Design of the process, not a record of a run.

Fig.The methods this platform draws on and what each one feeds. Design, not a record.

01In brief

The short answer.

The Disaster Resilience and Recovery STEM foundation is the set of canonical methods its findings depend on, from decision analysis under uncertainty to structural and earthquake engineering. Each method has a canonical STEM Commons page and a page here on its use in the disaster and crisis field.

02Geography

Hazards now in the Philippines.

For STEM foundation of disaster resilience and recovery, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on flood water, population density, active fires and true-colour imagery, framed on the Philippines; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 4

Hazards now, for this page

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

For STEM foundation of disaster resilience and recovery, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on flood water, population density, active fires and true-colour imagery, framed on the Philippines; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · GDACS · Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2ASources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
  • NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • GPM IMERG precipitation, NASA Precipitation Processing System; distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not official warnings.
  • Live: GDACS (EC JRC / UN OCHA) Events are indicative, not official warnings.
  • Observed (EO): Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026), Microsoft Planetary Computer
  • Optional layers (35 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • Active fires and thermal anomalies, last day: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
  • True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
  • Precipitation rate, daily mean: GPM IMERG, NASA GES DISC · 12 Oct 2026

03Methods

The methods behind the field.

  1. Decision analysis under uncertaintyCost-benefit of risk reduction · Acting on forecasts · Recovery prioritisationSteward · Systemic Risk ManagementApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  2. Social and behavioural scienceWarning response surveys · Participatory risk assessment · Social vulnerability analysisSteward · Society and Human DevelopmentApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  3. Forecasting and time-series analysisTrigger verification · Flood forecast lead time · Seasonal outlooks for drought preparednessSteward · Climate and HazardsApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  4. Optimization and operations researchPrepositioning relief supplies · Evacuation and shelter planning · Restoration sequencingSteward · Systems Science and ModellingApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  5. Geospatial information systemsExposure mapping · Rapid damage assessment · Common operational dataSteward · Space and Earth ObservationApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  6. Hydrology and water scienceFlood risk mapping for planning · Thresholds for anticipatory actionSteward · Water NexusApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  7. Earth and geophysical scienceEarthquake scenarios for exercises · Landslide hazard in recovery planningSteward · Climate and HazardsApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
  8. Structural and earthquake engineeringPost-disaster safety evaluation · Retrofit prioritisation · Reconstruction standardsSteward · Cities and Built EnvironmentApplied here
    Canonical · STEM Commons
04Method mix

Why disaster risk needs this combination of methods.

Disaster resilience combines decision analysis for choices under uncertainty, social science for vulnerability and behaviour, forecasting and hydrology and geoscience for hazards, geospatial methods for exposure, optimisation for logistics and structural engineering for the built environment.

05Why it matters

Grounding makes claims checkable.

When a finding names the methods it depends on, a reader can see its assumptions and limits, and an expert in that method can challenge it.

06Key terms

Terms used on this page.

Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.

TermDefinition
STEM CommonsThe shared reference of science, technology, engineering and mathematics methods for the Nexus network, hosted by GCRI, with one canonical page per method and a named steward platform.
Steward platformThe platform that maintains the canonical description of a method in the STEM Commons and reviews how other platforms apply it.
Decision analysis under uncertaintyDecision analysis under uncertainty provides structured methods for choosing among options when outcomes are uncertain and objectives conflict.
Social and behavioural scienceSocial and behavioural science studies how individuals, groups and institutions think, act and organise.
07Sources

Where this page's references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

08Pages

Pages in STEM foundation of Disaster Resilience and Recovery.

Method

Decision analysis for disaster risk

Method

Social science of disasters

Method

Forecasting for early action

Method

Operations research for disaster logistics

Method

Geospatial methods for disasters

Method

Hydrology for disaster resilience

Method

Geoscience for disaster resilience

Method

Structural engineering for recovery

09Questions

Questions and answers.

What is a steward platform?
The platform that maintains the canonical description of a method and reviews how it is applied across the Consortium.
Related

Around Disaster Resilience and Recovery.

Disaster Resilience and Recovery

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