Development of an Interactive Landslide Simulator

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

DR. VARUN DUTT

APPLIED COGNITIVE SCIENCE LABORATORY

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (IIT) MANDI , INDIA

1ST JUNE TO 13TH JULY 2015

AKSHIT ARORA

(101303012)

Research Institute:Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi (IIT Mandi)Nestled in the Shivalik Range of the Himalayas,away from the bustle of the metropolis, a newabode of learning has germinated. It is the youngestIIT. The historic town Mandi is 14 km away.

Vision: To be a leader in science andtechnology education, knowledge creation andinnovation, in an India marching towards a just,inclusive and sustainable society

Applied Cognitive Science Lab was setup by Dr.Varun Dutt (Asst. Prof., Indian Institute of TechnologyMandi) in 2014. The lab aims to understand humancognition in basic and applied problems usingexperimentation and computational modelling.

•Previous research shows that public’s understanding of causes and consequences of landslides and their landslide risk perception is very different from what it should be.

•Today, people living in landslide prone areas have no idea about what to do whenlandslide warning is issued to them. People are highly dependent on government for handling the disaster. (Chaturvedi P. and Dutt V., 2015)

•Simulation models and games hold the key in improving public understanding about landslides by compressing time and space.

Background

• Develop a computational model on landslide problem, which includes both environment and human effects.

• Develop a web-based game using the computational model of landslides and knowledge about web-based technologies like PHP and MySQL.

Scope

•The results captured in the game can help us measure the risk perception profile of people living in a particular disaster prone area, which can be used by the government to design better policies and warning systems.

•The information passed on to player in the form of graphical and picture messages can be used to educate the player so that he can be well prepared in the event of a landslide.

•The survey presented at the end of the game can help us observe the difference made (comparing them with previous survey results) in the player’s knowledge about landslide.

Utility

Equations used

For calculation of probability of landslides due to

rain from historical rain data (7 years) (Geo

Sciences Group, 2014)

For calculation of

probability of landslides

due to investment

(Hasson R., 2009)

Activity Diagram

DFD Level 0

DFD level 1

• @RISK Simulations on Excel Model

• Analysing 7 years of raw rainfall data

• Mathematical Modelling of real life scenario

• Database Connectivity in PHP

• Implementing and Integrating mathematics used in different research papers

Techniques

•Palisade Decision Tools (@RISK simulations)

•XAMPP Server (Inc. PHPMyAdmin)

•Apisnetworks.com (Server deployment)

•Google Analytics and Search Console

Tools Used

• Bootstrap and font-awesome libraries

• Impress JS (open source JavaScript used for presentation)

• HighCharts Library for data visualization on website

• HTML, CSS, MySQL, PHP, JavaScript

TechnologiesUsed

• Facebook Insights

• Adobe Brackets (Editor)

• Proto.io (Mock-ups)

• Trello, Qualtrics

Professional Learning

• Bug Fixing, Knowledge Transfer and prototyping

• Always have a clear and optimistic prospective

• Thinking like a scientist, trying and doing analysis at every step

• Interacting with people working on similar problem

• Knowing what goes into making realistic simulation of a real life problem

• Online collaboration with people in different cities using skype and trello

• Having a productive meeting with mentors

Technical Learning

•Making mathematical model of real life problem

• Running @RISK simulations on an Excel Model of the game and analysing relationships between different parameters

•Using Bootstrap (front end framework) and font-awesome library

•Using open source Java Script (Impress JS)

• Learning HTML, PHP, MySQL, CSS, JS

•HighCharts Library for plotting responsive graphs on webpage

•Considering Human Computer Interaction while designing web pages

•Using search engine optimization practices for improving Google search ranking and optimizing Facebook share content

•Using Qualtrics survey tool and capturing URL parameters.

Investment

= 0%

Investment

= 100%

Rainfall Data plotted against time in

days

Key Highlights and ConclusionKey Highlights◦ Cognitive Science and Human Computer Interaction

◦ Mathematical calculation of real life problems like damage caused due to landslide, probability of landslide due to rainfall and investment

◦ Dynamic model considering stochastic nature of landslides, 7 years of rainfall data and historical data of all the landslides in north India

◦ Analysis of 371 historical records of landslides in India to calculate the probability of death, injury and property damage in an event of a landslide

◦ Using open source frameworks and APIs

Conclusiono The internship was a great experience.

o Besides technical development, a lot of professional learning was also involved.

o I hope to utilize whatever I have learned here to pursue research in a structured way.

Project Video Link: http://bit.do/akshit_arora_101303012