Developing an adaptive global exposure model to support the generation of country disaster risk profiles

Using freely available (or available at minimum cost) datasets, we present a methodology for an exposure model to produce three independent geo-referenced databases to be used in national level disaster risk profiling for the public sector. These databases represent aggregated economic value at risk at 30 arc-second spatial resolution (approximately 1 × 1-km grid at the equator) using a top-down (or downscaling) approach. To produce these databases, the models used are: 1) a building inventory stock model which captures important attributes such as geographical location, urban/rural classification, type of occupancy (e.g. residential and non-residential), building typology (e.g. wood, concrete, masonry, etc.) and economic (replacement) value; 2) a non-building infrastructure density and value model that also corresponds to the fiscal infrastructure portion of the Gross Capital Stock (GCS) of a country; and 3) a spatially and sectorially disaggregated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) model that relates to the production (flow) of goods and services of a country. These models can be adapted to produce - independently or cohesively - a composite exposure database. Finally, we provide an example of the model's use in economic loss estimation for the reoccurrence of the 1882 Mw 7.8 Panama earthquake.