QZSS Application to Early Warning Information Platform

Koji Suzuki1, 2, 3, 4

1. Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), Japan

2. Steering Committee of Sentinel Asia (SC-SA), Japan

3. Committee for National Space Strategy (QZSS), Japan

4. Research Center for Urban Safety and Security (RCUSS), Kobe University, Japan

Abstract: Early warning information is critical element in disaster preparedness to reduce the impact of disaster. The information helps people at risk to prepare for and escape from the coming risk. Early warning information is delivered through a variety of means, including TV, radio, short message and wi-fi. In the rural area such as middle of the desert, deep in the mountain or far away from sea shore, those telecommunication means might not be installed. There may be some cases when those telecommunication tools are broken or not working well due to temporarily overwhelming messages.

Quasi Zenith Satellite System, QZSS for short, is one of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) by Japan. While it is a positioning satellite system, the QZSS has some capacity to send information. By applying this System, you can deliver early warning information anywhere the QZSS signal is available and you can receive the sent information anytime when you have a QZSS signal receiver. You do not need to rely on the above-mentioned telecommunication tools and the QZSS system has a potential as a transboundary and redundant infrastructure for early warning information platform.

Since the QZSS has already been installed, you do not need additional and large investment to set up the early warning information platform by QZSS.

The QZSS task force team is now developing the early warning information platform, including information protocol, platform modality and a compact and affordable QZSS signal receiver.

Key words: QZSS, GNSS, early warning information, redundancy, affordable, transboundary