NZ scientists to study Pacific danger spots

Geologist David Heron with one of the hand-held computers that GNS Science uses in the field to capture data. Photo supplied

Geologists from GNS Science will spend the next six months collecting information on buildings and infrastructure in Pacific Island countries to measure vulnerability and risk from earthquakes and cyclones in the southwest Pacific.

The project is part of a joint initiative involving the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank Regional Partnership for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Preparedness.

The Asian Development Bank has contracted GNS Science to carry out the work over the next two years in association with the Pacific Disaster Centre and the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), based in Fiji.

The work will be carried out in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The data collection will start in the Cook Islands this month and finish in Tonga in September 2010. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in September 2011.

Project leader, Phil Glassey of GNS Science, said they will be collecting existing building, road, pipeline, and utility network data held by the countries. Where this is lacking, they will collect it by field survey, concentrating on the major urban areas.

"The field data collection will involve staff from each of the country governments using hand-held computers with integrated camera and GPS," Mr Glassey said.

"The location of many of the assets will be captured using satellite imagery, prior to data collection in the field."