Life-Saver: Flood Emergency Simulator

This paper proposes an agent-based simulation system for Dam Break Emergency Plan validation. The proposed system shows that integrating GIS data with an agent-based approach provides a successful simulation platform for the emergency plan validation process. Possible strategies to emergency plan modeling and representation are discussed, proposing a close relation with the actual workflow followed by the entities responsible for the plan’s specification. The simulation model is mainly concerned with the location-based and location-motivated actions of the involved agents, describing the likely effects of a specific emergency situation response. The simulator architecture is further described, based on the correspondence between the representation of the plan, and the simulation model. This includes the involving characteristics of the simulation, the simulation engine, the description of the resulting data (for the later evaluation of the emergency plan) and a visualization and interaction component, enabling the dynamic introduction of changes in the scenario progression.