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Results in Resilience: Using UAVs to Assess Disaster Risk in Fiji & Tonga

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AT A GLANCE

Countries Fiji & Tonga

Risks Tropical cyclones

Area of Engagement Promoting open access to risk information

By developing local capacity to generate data on disaster risk, countries can carry out more analysis and make decisions based on evidence

LIFE-SAVING DATA SCATTERED ACROSS HUNDREDS OF ISLANDS

Collectively home to more than 1 million people, the Pacific island nations of Fiji and Tonga are frequently threatened by the impacts of climate change and natural hazards. In the aftermath of a disaster, these islands work hard to assess, identify and quantify risks and begin the recovery process.

Fiji and Tonga have taken many efforts to gather information about and prepare for shocks. However, consisting of many small and often remote islands, they face unique geographical challenges that impede data collection. This, in turn, hampers effective disaster prevention and response.

USING UAVs TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

To help fill this risk information gap, Fiji and Tonga have taken to the skies with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which provide a flexible means to collect very highresolution images and terrain information that complement traditional sources such as satellites.

Through the UAV4Resilience project, which received support from the African, Caribbean, Pacific - European Union Natural Disaster Risk Reduction (ACP-EU NDRR) Program*, the two countries built their capacity and readiness to deploy UAVs for disaster and climate risk assessments, and for rapid identification of damage to the environment in post-disaster situations.

Through this project, Fiji and Tonga used high resolution aerial images from UAVs to generate costeffective baseline mapping data and digital elevation models. These rich data can be used for many disaster risk management applications such as flood modeling or coastal erosion risk evaluation. The datasets can also be updated frequently to monitor changes in the physical environment, parcel mapping, and crop monitoring.