CESARE aims to create a unified National Damage and Event Database for Austria that meets the requirements of the United Nations, the European Union, and national requirements for managing the impacts of disasters. The goals of CESARE include:
- Establishing a standardized and harmonized damage and event database for Austria
- Integrating various natural hazards
- Integrating various data sources
- Creating a unified basis for reporting, risk assessment, and benefit analysis
The Austrian National Damage and Event Database
Many data are available at various institutions
Damage and event databases are essential instruments in disaster risk management and can contribute to informed decision-making. Currently, a variety of institutions and organizations in Austria collect data on disasters and natural hazards, as well as their impacts, for various purposes and in various systems. However, a consistent and curated database that captures various hazards as a ‘one-stop-shop’ does not yet exist.
Creation of a standardized and harmonized damage and event database for Austria on behalf of ASDR
The Austrian National Damage and Event Database, commissioned by the ASDR platform, aims to integrate various data sources and collect data in a standardized and harmonized manner in a central database. Both monetary and non-monetary damage data, as well as the causative events, are included. The geographic coverage of the data is nationwide, and data from 2005 onwards are collected and incorporated. The individual databases remain intact, and the Austrian National Damage and Event Database creates a common umbrella. This database is operated on behalf of ASDR by GeoSphere Austria, the national competence center for climate research and public welfare.
Joint development with various stakeholders
The collection and integration of data are carried out jointly with partners of the national damage and event database. The data are regularly aggregated centrally at GeoSphere Austria, where they are processed and harmonized. Subsequently, the data are integrated into the Austrian National Damage and Event Database, creating a nationwide, consistent, and curated multi-hazard database. Currently, there is already a demonstrator of the database, which is currently being populated with data from national, federal, and other stakeholders.
Creation of a sound decision-making basis for monitoring damages and losses
The processed, visualized, and harmonized data are used, among other things, in national risk analysis, Sendai Monitoring, and damage analysis. Thus, a unified data basis for Austria serves as an essential basis for monitoring and evaluating damages and losses.
The platform is managed as a governmental system and is currently not publicly available.
Previous work
CESARE – CollEction Standardization and Attribution of Robust disaster Event information
In the first phase of the CESARE project (funded by KIRAS/FFG; project end 02/2022), a demonstrator for a consistent national event-based damage database was designed and built.
The demonstrator focused on two Austrian federal states (Lower Austria and Styria), three types of hazards - floods, storms, and mass movements - and the period between 2005 and 2018. Through the analysis of over 140,000 individual event descriptions, it was shown that - despite some limitations in retrospective data harmonization - the implementation of an event-based national damage database is feasible and provides significant added value compared to using individual datasets.
The project website of the completed project can be accessed here (German version only).