Energy-related Severe Accident Database (ENSAD): cloud-based geospatial platform

• Published in: Big earth data Vol. 2; no. 4; pp. 368 - 394
• Main Authors: Kim, Wansub, Burgherr, Peter, Spada, Matteo, Lustenberger, Peter, Kalinina, Anna, Hirschberg, Stefan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 02-10-2018; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: cloud computing; Energy-related severe accident database; resilience; risk assessment; web-based GIS
• ISSN: 2096-4471; 2574-5417
• DOI: 10.1080/20964471.2019.1586276

The Energy-related Severe Accident Database (ENSAD) is the most authoritative resource for comparative risk analysis of accidents in the energy sector. Although ENSAD contains comprehensive, worldwide data, it is a non-spatial database in Microsoft Access format. Therefore, spatial characteristics of the data cannot be fully utilised as well as analysed directly. Based on these premises, a new web-based version of ENSAD with GIS-capabilities - named ENSAD v2.0 - is designed and developed using state-of-the-art, open source technologies. The ENSAD v2.0 consists of two main components, i.e. a spatial database and a responsive web application. For the spatial database, the current accident data are georeferenced and migrated from Microsoft Access, using a tiered approach. The responsive web application can be accessed from desktops as well as mobile devices, and provides both a 2D and 3D mapping platform that is developed on cloud-based, serverless architecture. ENSAD v2.0 also allows assigning different user roles with specific access rights, and a public version with advanced visualisation capabilities has also been developed. Lastly, a case study was carried out using a spatial analysis to visualise the potential impact radius of a natural gas pipeline explosion and to assess its consequences in terms of economic damage and casualties.