NumantIA

1. WHO ARE WE?

We are a team of young spanish Air and Space Force (Ejército del Aire y del Espacio) Officers and also technology enthusiasts with engineering and economy formation. Our team consists on:

• General Management and Coordination 

2nd Liutenant Sergio Rubio López - Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Organization Engineering and Physics student

• Commercial Department Manager

 2nd Liutenant Rocío Palacios Guerrero -  Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Organization Engineering

• Technical Manager

2nd Liutenant Pablo Álvarez de Alba - Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunications Engineering

• Business Analyst

2nd Liutenant Santiago Bueno Baeza-Rojano - Bachelor’s Degree in Economics

• Project Coordination Assistant 

1st Liutenant Juan M. Crespo Parra - Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering

2. WHAT IS OUR PROJET ABOUT?

The project involves the development of a catastrophe response system designed to streamline and enhance emergency operations following major disasters. This service achieves its goal by analyzing and prioritizing intervention nodes within the affected area, relying primarily on Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) and Operations Research. The system provides critical information to support effective Command and Control (C2) operations, particularly in large-scale catastrophes managed by military emergency units or other high-capacity emergency response actors. 

Using artificial intelligence, the system identifies and evaluates "nodes of actuation" based on key factors, each assigned a specific priority. These factors include: Human population density data, key logistical infrastructure (e.g., bridges, roads, railways, and ports), vital high-attention infrastructure (e.g., power plants, power lines, hospitals, and hazardous industrial sites),  communication nodes (e.g., antennas and critical networks), geographic terrain data and water levels in rivers and reservoirs. 

The system leverages satellite imagery from the Copernicus ESA program, utilizing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical imaging to assess the extent of disaster-related damage at each node. 

By integrating this impact analysis with Kennedy's algorithm for linear optimization, the system assigns importance to each node, generates a prioritized intervention plan, and determines the optimal access routes under disaster conditions. The output provides emergency services with actionable recommendations, including: The most critical locations requiring immediate action. The best available routes to access these locations. A detailed assessment of the impact on each node. 

Figure 1. Project Flow Chart

The system's primary value lies in facilitating post-emergency action planning for Command and Control units, significantly enhancing decision-making efficiency and operational effectiveness during large-scale disaster responses. It streamlines the actuation process by reducing the overwhelming volume of raw data that C2 structures typically face, enabling faster deployment of relief efforts. 

Moreover, its iterative design ensures continuous updates, incorporating new satellite imagery and on-ground feedback to provide emergency services with the most accurate and current information throughout the response phase. 

3. DO YOU WANT A BRIEF EXAMPLE?

Our system would be able to implement and automatize the method, but we can show you a brief example of its capabilities.

On 29 October 2024 at 14:30 UTC, an extraordinary rainfall event affected the Valencia region. High water levels in rivers caused flooding in Ribera Alta, Horta, La Plana de Utiel and Letur river. On 31 October 2024,extraordinary precipitation caused flooding in the Castellon Province area. Copernicus EMS Rapid Mapping is requested to provide emergency.

All images are provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA, all rights reserved.

1) Use of GEOINT through Copernicus EMS (Emergy Managment System) by GFM (Global Flood Management) tool.

The image below shows the situation in Picanya (Horta Sud region of Valencia) as of 31/01/2024 10:22UTC. Post-event image: GEOEYE © Maxar Technologies, Inc. (2024), (acquired on 31/10/2024 at 10:22 UTC, resolution 0.5 m).

Figure 2. Situation in Horta Sud and damage overlay. (Source: GFM)

The thematic layer showing the facilities damaged has been derived from post-event satellite image using a semi-automatic approach. Our system would have interpreted that by AI, showing an automated process.

2.1) Proposing a net made out of nodes and edges (graph) 

Our system will propose several nodes conected by edges. The nodes could be facilities such as bridges, thermal plants, high tension lines, train stations or any facility that has been affected. On the other hand, the edges are the roads, highways or railways which have been affected and 

Figure 3. Assignment of nodes.

2.2) Proposing a Prioritized Target List (PTL)Figure 4. PTL. tij (importance) and rij (resources). 2.3) Solution with Kennedy's method.

Our goal is to minimize the remanent importance of the net, implying the least resources as posible aiming the firstly recover the most important nodes and edges. The compact form of the problem has the following representation:

Figure 5. Compact form of Keneddy´s model.
After running the model with linear optimization (using SOLVER tool), we propose the following intervention proposal. Nodes 5 and 11 and edge 7 should be priorized.

Figure 6. Final solution and intervention proposal.

4. BUSINESS MODEL?

4.1 Funding

• Public funds

COSME funds many initiatives that help small businesses access new markets. It also aims to make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access finance in all phases of their lifecycle – creation, expansion, or business transfer.

(https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/smes/cosme_en)

• Private investors

By attending entrepreneurship summits, we could obtain funds for the development of our project. Private investors would find our idea attractive for obtaining economic returns. For example, getting in contact with Business Angels.

A business angel is a private individual, often with a high net-worth, and usually with business experience, who directly invests part of their assets in new and growing private businesses. Business angels can invest individually or as part of a syndicate where one angel typically takes the lead role.

(https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/access-finance/policy-areas/business-angels_en)

• Initial investment (EU finance instruments)

We would use financial instruments from public institutions such as the European Union. Likewise, the institutions to which we offer the service could be interested in our financing.

4.2 Customers

• Public Administrations
  • States
  • Regional Organizations (Comunidades Autónomas, Bundesländer)
  • International organizations (EU, NATO, UN)
• Posible private developers who are interested in investing in new systems that could considerably improve emergency management.

4.3 How to reach our customers?

We consider our service a critical service for Administrations. Its need has been highlighted by Climate Change and recent catastrophic events.  We would make service offers to the Public Sector (Protección Civil, MINISDEF, MINISINT, ERCC - Emergency Response Coordination Centre).

4.4 Viability and metrics

Regarding viability and metrics, we would introduce KPI`s & metrics to assure our project is realistic. For example, time-reduction in emergency intervention or gross margin profit.

We would focus on the contraposition of Benefits vs Costs having into account:

• Optimization of emergency services intervention which would mean less cost for Public Services
• Offering a Critical social service which could safe lives
• We also would count with a great market – worldwide which guarantees us a wide development

5. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, our project focuses on solving a critical need of society offering a technological solution using the benefits of GEOINT to improve emergency response. A society in which we are convinced we want to be part of its continuous improvement and progress.