User guide: Tool for spatial inventory data development

Hu, Z., C. Huyck, M. Eguchi, J. Bevington

Physical Risk

2014

Abstract/Summary

This report provides a background and user manual for the Spatial Inventory Data Developer (SIDD). SIDD serves as a conduit between base data sets derived from both ground observations and remotely sensed sources processed in large part by the IDCT, and a GEM Exposure File (GEF). SIDD allows users to process exposure data largely through a process of assigning “mapping schemes”, or statistical summaries of construction type, occupancy, era, and story height to “homogenous zones”, or areas with sufficiently similar structure type distribution. SIDD is designed as a tool to simplify complex processes that structural engineers and GIS analysts must undertake to develop building exposures, but does not simplify the decision-making process itself. Therefore, it is recommended for advanced users with a background in developing building exposure databases for catastrophe (CAT) modelling and loss estimation.