Situation determination device, situation determination system, situation determination method, and program

Abstract

In order to determine a disaster situation in an area that vehicles and the like cannot enter, a situation determination device according to the present invention comprises: an area identification means that uses sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device to identify an area from which ground surface changes are to be acquired; a ground surface information acquisition means that acquires ground surface changes in the identified area, which are results of analysis using results of measurement by a ground surface measurement device; and a disaster determination means that determines the occurrence of a disaster in the area using the ground surface changes.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to determining conditions on earth surfaces, and in particular to determining conditions related to disasters. [Background technology]

[0002] The use of images captured by drive recorders mounted on vehicles is becoming more widespread (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The vehicle-mounted device described in Patent Document 1 detects a situation in which a user requests an image, obtains images corresponding to the situation from other vehicles, and displays the obtained images. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-123071 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] For example, when a disaster occurs, such as flooding of roads, the roads in the affected area become impassable. As a result, traffic jams often occur on roads around the affected area. However, traffic jams can also occur for reasons other than disasters. In other words, the occurrence of a disaster cannot be determined solely from the occurrence of traffic jams. Furthermore, when traffic jams occur, vehicles cannot go beyond the traffic jam, so Patent Document 1 has the problem of being unable to determine the occurrence of a disaster.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a situation determination device or the like that determines the disaster situation in an area where vehicles or the like cannot enter. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A situation determination device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: an area specifying means for specifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface by using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquiring device; a ground surface information acquisition means for acquiring changes in the ground surface in the specified area, the changes being the result of an analysis using the measurement results acquired by a ground surface measurement device; a disaster determination means for determining the occurrence of a disaster in an area using changes in the ground surface; Includes.

[0007] A situation determination system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: The situation determination device, a sensor information acquisition device that outputs sensor information to the situation determination device; a ground surface measuring device that outputs changes in the ground surface to the situation determining device; a display device that displays the results of disaster determination output by the situation determination device; Includes.

[0008] A situation determination method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: Identifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device; Obtaining changes in the ground surface in the identified area as a result of analyzing the measurement results obtained by the ground surface measurement device; Changes in the earth's surface are used to determine the occurrence of disasters in an area.

[0009] A situation determination method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: A situation determination device executes the situation determination method described above, The sensor information acquisition device outputs sensor information to the situation determination device, The ground surface measurement device outputs changes in the ground surface to the situation determination device, A display device displays the result of the disaster determination output by the situation determination device.

[0010] A recording medium according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: A process of identifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device; A process of acquiring changes in the ground surface in the identified area, the changes being the result of analyzing the measurement results acquired by the ground surface measurement device; A process for determining the occurrence of a disaster in an area using changes in the ground surface; A program that causes a computer to execute the above is recorded. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect of determining the disaster situation in an area where vehicles and the like cannot enter. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a situation determination system 80 according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the configuration of a situation determination system 80 according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of determination by the disaster determination unit and the like. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the situation determination device according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the situation determination device. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a situation determination device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a situation determination system according to the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Each drawing is for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the description in each drawing. Also, the same numbers are given to similar configurations in each drawing, and repeated description thereof may be omitted. Also, in the drawings used in the following description, description of the configuration of the parts not related to the solution of the problem of the present invention may be omitted and not illustrated.

[0014] <Terminology> A "sensor information acquisition device" is a device that has a specified sensor and acquires sensor information related to a structure (e.g., a road, bridge, ramp, embankment, pier, revetment, or runway) and its surroundings. Sensor information will be described later. The sensor information acquisition device may be a device (e.g., a drive recorder) that is mounted on or towed by a moving body (e.g., a four-wheeled vehicle, a two-wheeled vehicle, a drone, or a person), or may be a fixed device (e.g., a fixed camera). Each embodiment uses sensor information acquired from the sensor information acquisition device to identify an area from which to acquire "changes in the ground surface," which will be described later.

[0015] "Sensor information" is information (e.g., images, speed, or acceleration) acquired using a predetermined sensor (e.g., a camera, a speedometer, or an accelerometer) to determine the status of a structure and its surroundings. For example, the sensor information is an image captured by a drive recorder mounted on a vehicle traveling on a structure such as a road or a bridge, or a measured acceleration. The sensor information may include multiple pieces of information (e.g., an image and an acceleration, or multiple images such as a video). Furthermore, the sensor information may include information related to the acquisition of the sensor information (such as the acquisition time, the acquisition position, or the acquisition conditions). Furthermore, the sensor information may include information related to a moving body (e.g., a vehicle) equipped with a sensor information acquisition device. For example, the sensor information may include operation information of the moving body (e.g., operation information of the vehicle's accelerator pedal, brake pedal, shift lever, steering wheel, wipers, turn signals, and opening and closing of doors).

[0016] A specific example of the correspondence between a sensor information acquisition device, a sensor, and sensor information will be described. When the sensor information acquisition device is a drive recorder, the sensor is a camera. When the sensor is a camera, the sensor information is an image. When the sensor information acquisition device is a drive recorder, the drive recorder may include an accelerometer as a sensor in addition to a camera. When the sensor is acceleration, the sensor information is acceleration. In the following description, a drive recorder and an image are used as an example of a sensor information acquisition device and sensor information. Also, a vehicle is used as an example of a moving body.

[0017] A "synthetic aperture radar (hereinafter referred to as "SAR")" is a radar in which a flying object transmits and receives radio waves while moving, obtaining images equivalent to those obtained by an antenna with a large aperture. The resolution in radar observations improves the larger the antenna. However, there is a limit to the size of antennas that can be mounted on artificial satellites and the like. Therefore, SAR uses an antenna with a small actual aperture length to transmit and receive radio waves while flying (i.e., artificially "synthesizes" the "aperture"), thereby increasing the resolution in the direction of travel (i.e., constructing a virtually large antenna). The flying object may be any device equipped with SAR. For example, the flying object may be an artificial satellite, an aircraft, or an unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0018] The SAR outputs an image (hereinafter, referred to as "SAR image") as a measurement result. Each embodiment analyzes "changes on the ground surface" using the SAR image. For example, each embodiment can analyze changes in the height of the ground surface as changes on the ground surface by using a comparison of two SAR images. Alternatively, the SAR can analyze changes in the intensity of the ground surface as changes on the ground surface. Note that the SAR may use any method as a method for analyzing changes in height and intensity. For example, the SAR may use techniques such as change extraction, time-series interference analysis, and coherent change extraction. Alternatively, the SAR may perform machine learning by applying past SAR images to a predetermined model, and apply the SAR image to an analysis model generated as a result of the execution of machine learning to analyze changes on the ground surface. The analysis of changes on the ground surface is not limited to analysis of changes in the height of the ground surface and changes in the intensity of the ground surface, and may also include other analyses (for example, analysis of the cause of changes on the ground surface or analysis of the magnitude of risk based on changes on the ground surface). However, in each embodiment, the device used to measure changes on the ground surface is not limited to SAR. Devices for measuring changes in the earth's surface include, for example, optical sensors or laser measuring devices mounted on any of artificial satellites, aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Each embodiment may analyze changes in the earth's surface using the measurement results of the devices or systems for measuring the earth's surface as described above. In the following description, these devices or systems for measuring the earth's surface are collectively referred to as "earth surface measuring devices."

[0019] However, the ground surface measurement device may also use the measurement results to perform analysis and output "changes on the ground surface" as a result of the analysis. In other words, the ground surface measurement device may output the measurement results, and may also output changes on the ground surface as a result of the analysis. Therefore, in the following explanation, in order to avoid complexity, the above cases are combined and the ground surface measurement device (e.g., SAR) is described as outputting "measurement results (e.g., SAR images)" unless a particular distinction is made. In the following explanation, SAR and SAR images are used as an example of a ground surface measurement device and measurement results.

[0020] In addition, there are SAR devices that can obtain measurement results using multiple frequencies (multispectrum). Measurement results using multispectrum can be used to analyze the type of earth's surface. Therefore, in each embodiment, the measurement results of such devices may be analyzed to determine the type of earth's surface. The type of earth's surface is determined according to the frequency used. For example, the type of earth's surface includes at least one of water surface, mud, dry soil, grassland, forest, farmland, and snow cover.

[0021] A ground surface measurement device such as SAR can measure an area where a vehicle cannot enter. However, for example, the accuracy of the result of an analysis (changes in the ground surface) using the measurement results acquired by SAR is about several meters. In contrast, for example, the width of a road may be about several meters. Therefore, it is desirable to judge the disaster situation with higher accuracy than an analysis using the measurement results of a ground surface measurement device such as SAR. A judgment using sensor information acquired from a drive recorder can achieve higher accuracy (for example, about several centimeters to several tens of centimeters). However, a sensor information acquisition device mounted on a vehicle or the like may not be able to acquire information on an area where a vehicle cannot enter. Therefore, each embodiment of the present invention judges the occurrence of a disaster in an area where a vehicle cannot enter by using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device and changes in the ground surface that are the result of an analysis using the measurement results of the ground surface measurement device, as described below.

[0022] <First embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0023] [Configuration Description] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a situation determination system 80 according to the first embodiment. The situation determination system 80 includes a situation determination device 10, a drive recorder 20, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) 30, and a display device 40. The situation determination system 80 may further include at least one of a vehicle 50, an alarm system 60, and an information providing device 70. Each device included in the situation determination system 80 is connected via a predetermined communication path (e.g., the Internet). Note that each device may be directly connected, or may be indirectly connected via a communication device (not shown). Note that the number of each component in FIG. 1 is an example, and is not limited to the number shown in FIG. 1. For example, the situation determination system 80 may include a plurality of drive recorders 20.

[0024] The drive recorder 20 outputs sensor information to the situation determination device 10. The drive recorder 20 is mounted on, for example, a vehicle 50 and acquires sensor information. However, the means of transportation of the drive recorder 20 is not limited to the vehicle 50. For example, the drive recorder 20 may be mounted on a moving body other than the vehicle 50 (for example, a drone). Alternatively, a person may carry the drive recorder 20. Alternatively, the drive recorder 20 may be a non-moving device such as a fixed camera. Note that the situation determination system 80 may include a plurality of drive recorders 20, not limited to one. In this case, the means of transportation of each drive recorder 20 may be at least partially different. For example, the situation determination system 80 may include a drive recorder 20 mounted on the vehicle 50 and a drive recorder 20 fixed at a predetermined position.

[0025] The SAR 30 outputs the measurement result (SAR image) or the change in the ground surface to the situation determination device 10. For example, the SAR 30 outputs the SAR image, which is the measurement result, to the situation determination device 10. In this case, the situation determination device 10 may analyze the "change in the ground surface" using the SAR image acquired from the SAR 30. When the situation determination device 10 acquires the SAR image, the situation determination device 10 may request the range (imaging range) of the SAR image to be transmitted from the SAR 30. In this case, the SAR 30 may output the SAR image of the acquired imaging range to the situation determination device 10. Alternatively, the SAR 30 may output the "change in the ground surface" which is the result of analyzing the SAR image to the situation determination device 10. In this case, the situation determination device 10 may request the range (analysis range) of the change in the ground surface to be transmitted from the SAR 30. Then, the SAR 30 may output the change in the ground surface of the acquired analysis range. The SAR 30 may output the measurement result using multispectral.

[0026] The display device 40 displays disaster-related information output by the situation determination device 10. The display device 40 may be any device that can display disaster-related information. For example, the display device 40 may be a display included in a disaster support system of a local government. The display device 40 may be installed at any location where it can be installed, and may be included in any device. For example, the display device 40 may be included in the situation determination device 10. Alternatively, the display device 40 may be a device that includes the situation determination device 10. Alternatively, the display device 40 may be included in another configuration shown in FIG. 1 (for example, the drive recorder 20 or the alarm system 60), or may be included in a device (not shown) mounted on the vehicle 50 (for example, a car navigation device).

[0027] The vehicle 50 runs with the drive recorder 20 mounted. The situation determination system 80 may include a plurality of vehicles 50 mounted with the drive recorder 20. Furthermore, the situation determination system 80 may include a vehicle 50 not mounted with the drive recorder 20. The vehicle 50 may acquire information related to a disaster from the situation determination device 10. In this case, the vehicle 50 may display the acquired information related to a disaster to the driver of the vehicle 50, etc. For example, when the vehicle 50 is mounted with the drive recorder 20, the vehicle 50 may display the acquired information related to a disaster on the drive recorder 20. Alternatively, when the vehicle 50 is mounted with a car navigation device, the vehicle 50 may display the acquired information related to a disaster on the car navigation device.

[0028] The warning system 60 acquires disaster-related information from the situation determination device 10, and outputs a predetermined warning in response to the acquired disaster-related information. For example, the warning system 60 may issue a warning to the area where the disaster occurred and nearby areas. Alternatively, the warning system 60 may output a warning to a terminal device carried by the driver of the vehicle 50.

[0029] The information providing device 70 provides information requested by the situation determination device 10. The information providing device 70 is any device that provides information used by the situation determination device 10 to determine the situation. A user of the situation determination device 10 or the like may determine the information providing device 70 in response to a disaster determined by the situation determination device 10. For example, the information providing device 70 may be a device of a weather information provider that provides information on the weather to the situation determination device 10. Alternatively, the information providing device 70 may be a device of a map information provider that provides map information to the situation determination device 10.

[0030] The situation determination device 10 uses the sensor information acquired from the drive recorder 20 to identify an area where changes in the ground surface are to be acquired. Then, the situation determination device 10 acquires an SAR image of the identified area from the SAR 30, and analyzes changes in the ground surface using the acquired SAR image. Alternatively, the situation determination device 10 acquires changes in the ground surface from the SAR 30, which are the result of analyzing the SAR image acquired by the SAR 30. That is, although the subject of analysis is different, in either case, the situation determination device 10 acquires changes in the ground surface in the identified area, which are the result of analysis using the SAR image acquired by the SAR 30. Then, the situation determination device 10 uses the acquired changes in the ground surface to determine whether or not a disaster has occurred in the identified area. Then, when it is determined that a disaster has occurred, the situation determination device 10 outputs information related to the disaster.

[0031] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the configuration of a situation determination system 80 according to the first embodiment. The situation determination system 80 in FIG. 2 includes a computer 810 as an example of the situation determination device 10, a drive recorder 820 as an example of the drive recorder 20, and an SAR system 830 including an artificial satellite and a ground station as an example of the SAR 30. Furthermore, the situation determination system 80 in FIG. 2 includes a terminal device 840 as an example of the display device 40. Furthermore, the situation determination system 80 in FIG. 2 includes a vehicle 850 as an example of the vehicle 50. Furthermore, the situation determination system 80 in FIG. 2 includes a network 880 as a communication path connecting each device and system. The network 880 is a communication path connecting each device and system to each other. There is no particular limitation on the network 880 as long as it can connect each device and system. For example, the network 880 may be the Internet, a public telephone line, or a combination thereof.

[0032] The number of components included in FIG. 2 is an example. For example, the situation determination system 80 may include one, two, or four or more drive recorders 820. Alternatively, at least a part of the drive recorders 820 may not be mounted on the vehicle 850. For example, the situation determination system 80 may not include the vehicle 850. Note that FIG. 2 shows the drive recorder 820 outside the vehicle 850 for ease of understanding. However, the drive recorder 820 may be mounted inside the vehicle 850.

[0033] A vehicle 850 is equipped with a drive recorder 820 and travels on a road or the like. The drive recorder 820 is mounted on the vehicle 850 and acquires sensor information (e.g., images or acceleration) related to the road or the like on which the vehicle 850 travels. The drive recorder 820 then outputs the sensor information to a computer 810. The SAR system 830 outputs SAR images acquired using an artificial satellite to the computer 810.

[0034] The computer 810 uses the sensor information acquired from the drive recorder 820 to identify an area from which a SAR image is to be acquired from the SAR system 830. Then, the computer 810 acquires a SAR image of the identified area from the SAR system 830, and analyzes changes in the ground surface using the acquired SAR image. That is, the computer 810 acquires changes in the ground surface in the identified area that are the result of analysis using the SAR image acquired by the SAR system 830. Then, the computer 810 uses the changes in the ground surface to determine whether or not a disaster has occurred in the identified area. Then, when it is determined that a disaster has occurred, the computer 810 outputs information related to the disaster to the terminal device 840. The terminal device 840 displays the information related to the disaster acquired from the computer 810.

[0035] There are no particular limitations on the computer 810, drive recorder 820, SAR system 830, terminal device 840, and vehicle 850 included in the situation determination system 80. Generally available products and systems may be used as the computer 810, drive recorder 820, SAR system 830, terminal device 840, and vehicle 850. Therefore, detailed descriptions of these will be omitted.

[0036] Next, the configuration of the situation determination device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The situation determination device 10 includes a sensor information acquisition unit 110, an area identification unit 120, a ground surface information acquisition unit 130, a disaster determination unit 140, and a notification unit 150. Each component may store at least a portion of the information identified, acquired, and determined by each component in a storage unit (not shown). In this case, each component may acquire the necessary information from the storage unit.

[0037] The sensor information acquisition unit 110 acquires sensor information from the drive recorder 20. Then, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 outputs the sensor information to the area identification unit 120. The sensor information acquisition unit 110 may output the sensor information to at least one of the disaster determination unit 140 and the notification unit 150. The sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire sensor information from multiple drive recorders 20.

[0038] The timing at which the sensor information acquisition unit 110 acquires the sensor information is arbitrary. For example, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire the sensor information in response to an instruction from a user. Alternatively, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire the sensor information at a predetermined cycle or when a predetermined condition is satisfied (for example, when a notification of an earthquake occurrence is received or when a storm warning is received). Alternatively, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire the sensor information in response to an instruction from the area identification unit 120, the disaster determination unit 140, or the notification unit 150.

[0039] Furthermore, the sensor information acquiring unit 110 may use the acquired sensor information to switch the type of sensor information to be acquired. For example, an image is data with a large amount of data. Therefore, in order to reduce the communication load, the sensor information acquiring unit 110 may usually acquire sensor information with a small amount of data (for example, position and acceleration). Then, when the sensor information acquiring unit 110 detects an abnormality using the acquired sensor information (for example, when the acceleration changes significantly), it may acquire an image as the sensor information.

[0040] The sensor information having a smaller amount of data than the image is not limited to acceleration. Next, another example of sensor information having a smaller amount of data will be described. The operation of the wipers in the vehicle 50 changes in response to the amount of rainfall. Therefore, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire the wiper operation state (for example, stopped, intermittent, and continuous) of the vehicle 50 equipped with the drive recorder 20 as sensor information, and acquire an image as sensor information when the wiper operation becomes continuous. Alternatively, when a traffic jam occurs, the frequency of brake operation increases. Therefore, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire the frequency of brake operation of the vehicle 50 equipped with the drive recorder 20 as sensor information, and acquire an image as sensor information when the frequency of brake operation increases. Note that a case where the frequency of brake operation is high is, for example, a case where the number of brake operations per unit time or per unit distance exceeds a threshold value. However, the sensor information having a smaller amount of data is not limited to the above.

[0041] The area identification unit 120 identifies an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface using the sensor information acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 110. For example, when a disaster (for example, a flood or a landslide) occurs, it becomes difficult for vehicles heading in the direction of the disaster to pass, and congestion occurs. Therefore, for example, the area identification unit 120 determines the occurrence of congestion on a road using sensor information acquired from the drive recorder 20 mounted on the vehicle 50. More specifically, for example, the area identification unit 120 may apply a predetermined image recognition (recognition using a determination model generated using machine learning, recognition using another method, and recognition combining these methods) to an image acquired as sensor information to determine congestion. The area identification unit 120 may determine congestion using multiple image recognitions corresponding to multiple shooting conditions such as time of day or weather.

[0042] Then, when a traffic jam occurs, the area identification unit 120 may use the sensor information to identify an area from which changes on the ground surface are acquired. That is, the area identification unit 120 may identify an area when it is determined that a traffic jam occurs in a structure (for example, a road) included in the sensor information. For example, when a disaster occurs, a traffic jam occurs on a road in a direction toward the disaster area. Therefore, when a traffic jam occurs, the area identification unit 120 uses the position of the vehicle 50 equipped with the drive recorder 20 to identify the road on which the vehicle 50 is traveling. Then, the area identification unit 120 may identify an area of ​​a predetermined width in the traveling direction of the vehicle 50 on the identified road as an area from which changes on the ground surface are acquired. Alternatively, the area identification unit 120 may determine the position and direction of the traffic jam using the operation of the vehicle 50 or the like included in an image acquired as sensor information, and identify the area using the determined position and direction of the traffic jam.

[0043] Alternatively, vibrations (vertical and horizontal vibrations) generated due to an earthquake differ from vibrations generated due to vehicle travel in the change in vibration direction and the change in amplitude over time from generation to disappearance (i.e., three-dimensional change in acceleration). For this reason, the occurrence of an earthquake may be detected using the change in acceleration. Thus, the area identification unit 120 may determine the occurrence of an earthquake using the change in acceleration detected by the drive recorder 20. Then, when the area identification unit 120 determines the occurrence of an earthquake, it may identify the area using the position of the drive recorder 20. For example, the area identification unit 120 may identify an area of ​​a predetermined size centered on the position of the drive recorder 20.

[0044] The area identification unit 120 may identify an area using sensor information acquired from multiple drive recorders 20 instead of one. For example, the area identification unit 120 acquires sensor information such as an image, a position, and the speed of the vehicle 50 from multiple drive recorders 20. The area identification unit 120 may then determine congestion using the acquired multiple pieces of sensor information, and identify the area using the acquisition position of the sensor information that determined congestion and the distribution of the degree of congestion (for example, the average running speed of the vehicle 50) at each position. Alternatively, the area identification unit 120 may identify the area using sensor information acquired from drive recorders 20 mounted on vehicles 50 on both sides of the area where the road is closed (for example, lanes of a road facing each other in the traveling direction that sandwich the area). The operation in this case will be described later with reference to the drawings.

[0045] Alternatively, the region identification unit 120 may determine an earthquake using multiple acceleration changes acquired by multiple drive recorders 20. For example, the region identification unit 120 acquires the acceleration, position, and detection time from the drive recorder 20 that first detects the acceleration based on the earthquake. Furthermore, the region identification unit 120 acquires the acceleration, position, and detection time from one or multiple drive recorders 20 that subsequently detect the acceleration based on the earthquake. Then, the region identification unit 120 may estimate the location of the epicenter and an outline of the magnitude (seismic intensity) of the earthquake using the acquired acceleration, position, and detection time from the multiple drive recorders 20. Then, the region identification unit 120 may identify the region using the estimated location of the epicenter and magnitude of the earthquake.

[0046] The area identification unit 120 may identify multiple areas instead of one. Then, the area identification unit 120 outputs the identified area to the ground surface information acquisition unit 130. It is to be noted that the disaster determination unit 140, not the area identification unit 120, may output the area to the ground surface information acquisition unit 130. In this case, the area identification unit 120 may output the identified area to the disaster determination unit 140. Then, the disaster determination unit 140 outputs the acquired area to the ground surface information acquisition unit 130. It is to be noted that the area identification unit 120 may identify the area using not only the sensor information newly acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 110, but also the sensor information acquired in advance by the sensor information acquisition unit 110 and stored in a storage unit (not shown). For example, the area identification unit 120 may identify the area using sensor information at a predetermined past time point. Alternatively, the area identification unit 120 may use sensor information stored in a cloud system configured using cloud computing to which the drive recorder 20 is connected.

[0047] The ground surface information acquisition unit 130 acquires changes in the ground surface that are the result of analysis using the SAR image acquired by the SAR 30 in the area identified by the area identification unit 120. For example, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 outputs the area identified by the area identification unit 120 to the SAR 30, acquires a SAR image of the area from the SAR 30, and analyzes changes in the ground surface in the acquired SAR image. The ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may acquire SAR images of an area larger than the area identified by the area identification unit 120, and analyze changes in the ground surface using SAR images corresponding to the area identified by the area identification unit 120 from the acquired SAR images. Alternatively, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may acquire changes in the ground surface that are the result of analysis of the SAR image in the area identified by the area identification unit 120 from the SAR 30. In this case, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may omit the operation of analyzing changes in the ground surface.

[0048] In this way, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may acquire an SAR image from the SAR 30 and analyze the change in the ground surface, or may acquire the change in the ground surface from the SAR 30. As already described, for the sake of convenience in the description of this embodiment, these are summarized and described as the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 acquiring the change in the ground surface, which is the result of the analysis using the SAR image acquired by the SAR 30 in the specified area. In other words, the acquisition of the change in the ground surface in the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 includes a case where an SAR image is acquired and the change in the ground surface is analyzed using the acquired SAR image, and a case where the change in the ground surface is acquired. Note that the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may acquire the observation result using a multispectrum from the SAR 30. In this case, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may analyze the type of the ground surface in addition to the change in the ground surface using the acquired observation result. Then, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may output the type of the ground surface in addition to the change in the ground surface. Therefore, in the following description, the type of the ground surface is referred to as the change in the ground surface. That is, in the following description, the change in the ground surface may include the type of the ground surface. Then, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 outputs the acquired change in the ground surface to the disaster determination unit 140.

[0049] The disaster determination unit 140 determines whether or not a disaster has occurred using the change in the ground surface. However, when the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 acquires an SAR image from the SAR 30, the disaster determination unit 140 may acquire the SAR image from the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 and analyze the change in the ground surface. However, for convenience of explanation, in the following explanation, including the case where the SAR image is acquired, the disaster determination unit 140 will be described as acquiring the change in the ground surface. In other words, the determination of a disaster using the change in the ground surface by the disaster determination unit 140 includes the case where the change in the ground surface is analyzed using the SAR image, and the disaster is determined using the change in the ground surface that is the result of the analysis.

[0050] The disaster determination unit 140 may acquire an area from the area identification unit 120, and request the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 to acquire changes in the ground surface corresponding to the acquired area. In this case, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may operate in the same manner as when the area is acquired from the area identification unit 120. That is, in this case as well, the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 may acquire changes in the ground surface in the identified area that are the result of analysis using the SAR image acquired by the SAR30.

[0051] The method of determining whether or not a disaster has occurred in the disaster determination unit 140 is arbitrary. For example, when a flood occurs, the measured surface (i.e., the flood water level) becomes higher than the ground surface due to the flooding. That is, the change in the ground surface becomes higher. Or, in the case of a landslide, the measured ground surface becomes lower than the original ground surface due to the runoff of soil and sand. That is, the change in the ground surface becomes lower. In this way, it is highly likely that a disaster has occurred in an area where the ground surface is somewhat higher and an area where the ground surface is somewhat lower, that is, an area where the absolute value of the ground surface change is large. Therefore, for example, when there is a point in the identified area where the absolute value of the ground surface change exceeds a predetermined threshold, the disaster determination unit 140 determines that a disaster has occurred. Note that the disaster determination unit 140 may determine a disaster using either the case where the ground surface change becomes higher or lower, rather than both cases. Note that in the following description, for convenience of explanation, "the absolute value of the ground surface change exceeds a threshold" may be simply called "the ground surface change exceeds a threshold". When the change in the ground surface includes the type of the ground surface, the disaster determination unit 140 may use the type of the ground surface to determine the occurrence of a disaster.

[0052] Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may use information (for example, weather information or topographical information) acquired from the information providing device 70 to determine the occurrence of a disaster. For example, the disaster determination unit 140 may acquire a topographical map from the information providing device 70, and use a change in the ground surface becoming higher, assuming a flood in an area near a river on the topographical map. Alternatively, the disaster determination unit 140 may use a change in the ground surface becoming lower, assuming a landslide in an area near a cliff or other stepped topography on the topographical map. In this way, the disaster determination unit 140 may switch the disaster determination method.

[0053] Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the extent of the disaster. For example, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the range in which the change in the ground surface exceeds a threshold (or the range including the point where the change in the ground surface exceeds the threshold) as the range in which the disaster has occurred (disaster range). Disasters such as floods occur over a certain range. Therefore, when the range in which the change in the ground surface exceeds the threshold is larger than a predetermined area, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine that range as the range in which the disaster has occurred. Note that, when the change in the ground surface includes the type of the ground surface, the disaster determination unit 140 may use the type of the ground surface to determine the range of the disaster.

[0054] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the determination by the disaster determination unit 140 and the like. As shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 3, when a flood or the like occurs, a range where the ground surface changes significantly occurs in an area where vehicles cannot pass. On the other hand, as shown in the lower diagram, when a road is closed due to fallen trees, no change in the ground surface occurs in an area where vehicles cannot pass. Alternatively, the change in the ground surface that occurs (for example, the part of a fallen tree) is of a degree that cannot be determined by an analysis using the measurement results of the SAR 30. Therefore, the disaster determination unit 140 can determine the occurrence or non-occurrence of a disaster using the change in the ground surface. As shown in FIG. 3, the disaster determination unit 140 can determine the extent of the damage using the change in the ground surface.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 3, the area identification unit 120 may identify the area using sensor information acquired from the drive recorder 20 mounted on the vehicle 50 on both sides of the closed area (for example, roads facing each other in the traveling direction). In this case, the area identification unit 120 may request the sensor information acquisition unit 110 to acquire sensor information from the drive recorder 20 mounted on the vehicle 50 at the required position. In FIG. 3, there are two roads connected to the closed area. However, this is only one example. When there are three or more roads connected to the closed area, the area identification unit 120 may acquire sensor information from the drive recorder 20 mounted on the vehicle 50 on the three or more roads. Returning to the description with reference to FIG. 1.

[0056] The disaster determination unit 140 may use sensor information to determine the occurrence of a disaster and the extent of the disaster. For example, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the occurrence of a disaster and the extent of the disaster using sensor information acquired by a drive recorder 20 (for example, a drive recorder 20 mounted on a vehicle in the upper diagram of FIG. 3) in the vicinity of an area where the change in the ground surface is large. Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may request the sensor information acquisition unit 110 to acquire sensor information used to determine the occurrence of a disaster. For example, when the sensor information acquisition unit 110 acquires acceleration, the disaster determination unit 140 may request the sensor information acquisition unit 110 to acquire an image of the periphery of an area where the change in the ground surface is large among the acquired changes in the ground surface, and may determine a disaster using the acquired image. In this way, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire sensor information in response to an instruction from the disaster determination unit 140. Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may use sensor information to determine the extent of the disaster. For example, the disaster determination unit 140 may request the sensor information acquisition unit 110 to acquire sensor information (e.g., images) in the vicinity of an area where changes in the ground surface are greater than a predetermined value, and use the acquired sensor information (e.g., images) to determine the extent of the damage.

[0057] The disaster determination unit 140 may further determine at least one of the type of disaster and the extent (magnitude) of the disaster using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. For example, when a flood occurs, flooding may be reflected in an image acquired by the drive recorder 20 around an area that is impassable due to the flood. Or, when a landslide occurs, a part of the earth and sand may be reflected in an image acquired by the drive recorder 20 around a road that is impassable due to the landslide. In this case, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the type of disaster using an image including the sensor information. Or, an earthquake may be determined using the acceleration detected by the drive recorder 20. Or, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the magnitude (seismic intensity) of the earthquake with a certain degree of accuracy from the magnitude of the acceleration based on the earthquake. In this case, the disaster determination unit 140 may obtain the acceleration from the drive recorder 20 as sensor information, and determine the earthquake as the type of disaster and the magnitude (seismic intensity) of the earthquake as the extent of the disaster using the obtained acceleration. Alternatively, if an image included in the sensor information includes a known structure and a flooded surface, the disaster determination unit 140 may be able to determine the flood height using that image. Therefore, the disaster determination unit 140 may use the sensor information to determine the flood height as the extent of the disaster. In this way, the disaster determination unit 140 may use the sensor information to determine at least one of the type of disaster and the extent of the disaster.

[0058] Alternatively, in the case of flooding, the ground surface will have the same water level over a fairly wide area. On the other hand, in the case of a landslide, unevenness will occur on the ground surface. In this way, the distribution of changes in the ground surface changes depending on the type of disaster. Therefore, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the type of disaster using the distribution of changes in the ground surface. The disaster determination unit 140 may use information other than the changes in the ground surface and the sensor information (for example, topographical information, geological information, or past disaster information) to determine the type of disaster. Note that, when the changes in the ground surface include the type of the ground surface, the disaster determination unit 140 may use the type of the ground surface to determine at least one of the type of disaster and the extent of the disaster.

[0059] The type of disaster determined by the disaster determination unit 140 is arbitrary. For example, the user of the situation determination device 10 may determine the type of disaster using information available to the disaster determination unit 140. The types of disaster are, for example, landslides (slope collapse, landslide, cliff collapse, debris flow, or landslide), flood damage (flood, river overflow, inundation, high tide, or tsunami), earthquake, or eruption. However, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine not only natural disasters such as landslides, floods, earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions, but also man-made disasters such as fires, traffic accidents, or bombing terrorism. Then, the disaster determination unit 140 outputs information related to the disaster (information including at least one of the occurrence of the disaster, the affected area, the type of the disaster, and the extent of the disaster) to the notification unit 150 as a determination result.

[0060] The notification unit 150 outputs the result of the determination by the disaster determination unit 140 to a predetermined notification destination. For example, when the disaster determination unit 140 determines the occurrence of a disaster, the notification unit 150 notifies the predetermined notification destination of information related to the disaster determined by the disaster determination unit 140 (information including at least one of the occurrence or non-occurrence of a disaster, the affected area, the type of disaster, and the extent of the disaster). For example, when the disaster determination unit 140 determines the occurrence of a disaster, the notification unit 150 outputs information related to the disaster to at least one of the display device 40, the vehicle 50, and the alarm system 60. The notification unit 150 may select a notification destination. For example, the notification unit 150 may obtain the position of the vehicle 50 equipped with the drive recorder 20 using sensor information, and output information related to the disaster to the vehicle 50 within the affected area and the vehicle 50 within a predetermined range from the affected area. Furthermore, the notification unit 150 may determine the position and traveling direction of the vehicle 50 using sensor information, and output information related to the disaster to the vehicle 50 heading toward the affected area. In these cases, the notification destination device may be any device mounted on the vehicle 50. For example, the notification unit 150 may output information related to the disaster to a car navigation device mounted on the vehicle 50.

[0061] Alternatively, the notification unit 150 may output at least one of the related sensor information and the change in the ground surface in addition to the information related to the disaster. For example, the notification unit 150 may output an image in the vicinity of the disaster area (for example, an image acquired by the drive recorder 20 mounted on the vehicle 50 within a predetermined range from the disaster area) to the alarm system 60. The notification unit 150 may request the sensor information acquisition unit 110 to acquire an image to be used for the notification. For example, when the sensor information acquisition unit 110 does not acquire an image in order to reduce the amount of data of the sensor information acquired, the notification unit 150 may request the sensor information acquisition unit 110 to acquire an image to be output. When requesting the acquisition of an image, the notification unit 150 may determine the range in which the image is to be acquired using the change in the ground surface analyzed or acquired by the ground surface information acquisition unit 130 in addition to or instead of the disaster area determined by the disaster determination unit 140. For example, the notification unit 150 may acquire an image in a range where no disaster has occurred but the change in the ground surface is to a certain extent in order to prevent the occurrence of a secondary disaster, and output the acquired image.

[0062] [Explanation of operation] 4 is a flow diagram showing an example of the operation of the situation determination device 10 according to the first embodiment. The sensor information acquisition unit 110 acquires sensor information from a drive recorder (step S210). The area identification unit 120 determines the occurrence of traffic congestion using the sensor information (step S220). If traffic congestion is not occurring ("No" in step S230), the situation determination device 10 ends the operation.

[0063] If a traffic jam occurs ("Yes" in step S230), the area identification unit 120 uses the sensor information to identify an area from which changes in the ground surface are to be acquired (step S240). The area identification unit 120 does not have to determine the occurrence of a traffic jam. In this case, the situation determination device 10 may omit the operations of steps S220 and S230. The ground surface information acquisition unit 130 acquires from the SAR 30 changes in the ground surface in the identified area that are the result of analysis using the SAR image acquired by the SAR 30 (step S250).

[0064] The disaster determination unit 140 determines the occurrence of a disaster using the change in the ground surface (step S260). The disaster determination unit 140 may further determine at least one of the range of the disaster, the type of the disaster, and the extent of the disaster. If a disaster has not occurred ("No" in step S270), the situation determination device 10 ends the operation. If a disaster has occurred ("Yes" in step S270), the situation determination device 10 executes a predetermined disaster response process (step S280). For example, the notification unit 150 notifies a predetermined notification destination (for example, the display device 40, the vehicle 50, or the alarm system 60) of information related to the disaster (information including at least one of the occurrence of the disaster, the range of the disaster, the type of the disaster, and). The situation determination device 10 may store the information related to the disaster in a storage unit (not shown) and output the stored information related to the disaster based on a predetermined instruction.

[0065] The situation determination device 10 according to the first embodiment configured as described above can determine the disaster situation in an area where vehicles and the like cannot enter for the following reasons.

[0066] The situation determination device 10 includes an area identification unit 120, a ground surface information acquisition unit 130, and a disaster determination unit 140. The area identification unit 120 identifies an area for acquiring changes in the ground surface using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device (e.g., a drive recorder 20). The ground surface information acquisition unit 130 acquires changes in the ground surface in the identified area, which are the result of an analysis using measurement results (e.g., SAR images) acquired by a ground surface measurement device (e.g., a SAR 30). Then, the disaster determination unit 140 uses the changes in the ground surface to determine the occurrence of a disaster in the area.

[0067] When a flood or the like occurs, the drive recorder 20 mounted on the vehicle 50 cannot obtain sensor information in the affected area. However, when a flood or the like occurs, the ground surface changes (for example, the ground surface height rises). The SAR 30 can obtain SAR images of an area where the vehicle 50 or the like cannot enter. Then, the SAR images can be used to analyze the changes in the ground surface. However, the accuracy of the analysis using the measurement results of the SAR 30 or the like may not necessarily be sufficient to identify a judgment area or the like. Therefore, the situation determination device 10 identifies an area where changes in the ground surface are obtained using sensor information with high measurement accuracy, and determines the occurrence of a disaster using the changes in the ground surface in the identified area. As a result, the situation determination device 10 can realize a highly accurate determination of the disaster situation in an area where the vehicle 50 cannot enter.

[0068] Furthermore, the sensor information may include at least one of information related to a moving body (e.g., a vehicle 50 or a drone) equipped with a sensor information acquisition device (e.g., a drive recorder 20) and information related to a structure (e.g., a road and a bridge) on which the moving body travels. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can determine a disaster using, for example, information related to the moving body (e.g., frequent use of the brakes of the vehicle 50). Alternatively, the situation determination device 10 can determine a disaster in an area related to a structure (e.g., a road and a bridge) on which the moving body (e.g., the vehicle 50) travels.

[0069] Furthermore, the structure may be a road, and the moving body may be a vehicle 50 traveling on the road. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can determine a disaster on the road or in its vicinity by using sensor information (e.g., images or acceleration) acquired by a sensor information acquisition device (e.g., a drive recorder 20) mounted on the vehicle 50 traveling on the road.

[0070] Furthermore, the sensor information may include at least one of the position and traveling direction of a moving body (e.g., vehicle 50) equipped with a sensor information acquisition device (e.g., drive recorder 20). The area identification unit 120 may identify an area using at least one of the acquired position and traveling direction of the moving body (e.g., vehicle 50). In this case, the situation determination device 10 can identify an area for more appropriately determining a disaster using the position and traveling direction of the moving body.

[0071] Furthermore, when the area identification unit 120 determines that a traffic jam has occurred using the sensor information, the area identification unit 120 may identify an area for acquiring changes in the ground surface. In this case, when a traffic jam has occurred on a road or the like, the situation determination device 10 can determine whether the traffic jam has occurred due to a disaster or not.

[0072] Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the occurrence of a disaster using sensor information. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can more appropriately determine the occurrence of a disaster.

[0073] Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the extent of the disaster using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. In this case, the disaster determination unit 140 can identify the occurrence of the disaster as well as the extent of the disaster. Therefore, users can take appropriate measures against the disaster that has occurred.

[0074] Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the type of disaster using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine the extent of the disaster using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can determine the type or extent of the disaster that has occurred in addition to determining the occurrence of a disaster. Therefore, users and the like can adopt a more appropriate response to the disaster that has occurred.

[0075] Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine that the type of disaster is an earthquake. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can realize a determination corresponding to an earthquake even among disasters.

[0076] Furthermore, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine at least one of the magnitude and the epicenter of an earthquake by using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can determine the earthquake in more detail.

[0077] Furthermore, the situation determination device 10 may include a notification unit 150 that notifies information related to a disaster. Then, when the disaster determination unit 140 determines that a disaster has occurred, the notification unit 150 may notify information related to the disaster that has occurred. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can report the information related to the determined disaster to a predetermined notification destination (for example, a device used by a user). As a result, the situation determination device 10 can provide information related to a disaster, etc. to a user, etc., thereby improving convenience for the user.

[0078] Furthermore, the notification unit 150 may use the sensor information to select a notification destination of the disaster-related information. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can provide the disaster-related information to a more appropriate notification destination. As a result, the situation determination device 10 can improve the convenience for users, etc.

[0079] Furthermore, the notification unit 150 may notify at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. In this case, the situation determination device 10 can provide more detailed information to the user, etc. As a result, the situation determination device 10 can improve the convenience for the user, etc.

[0080] The situation determination device 10 may include a sensor information acquisition unit 110 that acquires sensor information. The sensor information acquisition unit 110 may use the acquired sensor information to switch the type of sensor information to be acquired. For example, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may normally acquire sensor information with a small amount of data (e.g., acceleration), and when an abnormality is determined using the acquired sensor information, the type of sensor information to be acquired may be switched to sensor information with a large amount of data (e.g., images). As a result of such an operation, the situation determination device 10 can reduce the load of transferring sensor information during normal times.

[0081] Furthermore, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire sensor information used to determine the occurrence of a disaster in response to an instruction from the disaster determination unit 140. In this case, the disaster determination unit 140 may determine a disaster using the acquired sensor information. As a result, the situation determination device 10 can more appropriately determine a disaster.

[0082] Furthermore, the sensor information acquisition unit 110 may acquire sensor information from a plurality of sensor information acquisition devices (e.g., a plurality of drive recorders 20). Then, the area identification unit 120 may identify an area for acquiring changes in the ground surface using the sensor information acquired from the plurality of sensor information acquisition devices (e.g., the drive recorder 20). In this case, the situation determination device 10 can more appropriately identify the area. As a result, the situation determination device 10 can more appropriately determine a disaster.

[0083] The situation determination system 80 includes a situation determination device 10, a sensor information acquisition device (e.g., a drive recorder 20), a ground surface measurement device (e.g., a SAR 30), and a display device 40. The situation determination device 10 operates as described above. The sensor information acquisition device (e.g., a drive recorder 20) outputs sensor information to the situation determination device 10. The ground surface measurement device (e.g., a SAR 30) outputs changes in the ground surface to the situation determination device 10. The display device 40 displays the result of the disaster determination output by the situation determination device 10. In the situation determination system 80 configured in this manner, the situation determination device 10 acquires changes in the ground surface from the ground surface measurement device using sensor information acquired from the sensor information acquisition device. Then, the situation determination device 10 outputs the disaster determination result determined using the changes in the ground surface to the display device 40. Then, the display device 40 displays the disaster determination result. As a result, the situation determination system 80 can determine the disaster situation in an area where the vehicle 50 cannot enter, and provide the result of the determination to the user, etc.

[0084] [Hardware configuration] Next, the hardware configuration of the situation determination device 10 will be described. Each component of the situation determination device 10 may be configured with a hardware circuit. Alternatively, in the situation determination device 10, each component may be configured using a plurality of devices connected via a network. For example, the situation determination device 10 may be configured using cloud computing. Alternatively, in the situation determination device 10, a plurality of components may be configured with a single piece of hardware. Alternatively, the situation determination device 10 may be realized as a computer device including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). In addition to the above configuration, the situation determination device 10 may be realized as a computer device further including a network interface circuit (NIC).

[0085] 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the situation determination device 10. The situation determination device 10 includes a CPU 610, a ROM 620, a RAM 630, a storage device 640, and a NIC 650, and constitutes a computer device. The CPU 610 reads a program from the ROM 620 and / or the storage device 640. The CPU 610 then controls the RAM 630, the storage device 640, and the NIC 650 based on the read program. The computer including the CPU 610 then controls these configurations and realizes the functions of the sensor information acquisition unit 110, the area identification unit 120, the earth's surface information acquisition unit 130, the disaster determination unit 140, and the notification unit 150 shown in FIG. 1.

[0086] When implementing each function, the CPU 610 may use the RAM 630 or the storage device 640 as a temporary storage medium for programs and data. Alternatively, the CPU 610 may read, using a storage medium reading device (not shown), a program contained in a storage medium 690 that stores a program in a computer-readable manner. Alternatively, the CPU 610 may receive a program from an external device (not shown) via the NIC 650, store the program in the RAM 630 or the storage device 640, and operate based on the stored program.

[0087] The ROM 620 stores programs and fixed data executed by the CPU 610. The ROM 620 is, for example, a P-ROM (Programmable-ROM) or a flash ROM. The RAM 630 temporarily stores programs and data executed by the CPU 610. The RAM 630 is, for example, a D-RAM (Dynamic-RAM). The storage device 640 stores data and programs that the situation determination device 10 stores for a long period of time. The storage device 640 may also operate as a temporary storage device for the CPU 610. The storage device 640 is, for example, a hard disk device, a magneto-optical disk device, a solid state drive (SSD), or a disk array device. The ROM 620 and the storage device 640 are non-volatile (non-transitory) recording media. On the other hand, the RAM 630 is a volatile (transitory) recording media. The CPU 610 can operate based on the programs stored in the ROM 620, the storage device 640, or the RAM 630. That is, the CPU 610 can operate using a non-volatile recording medium or a volatile recording medium.

[0088] The NIC 650 relays data exchange with external devices (such as the drive recorder 20, the SAR 30, and the display device 40) via the network. The NIC 650 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) card. Furthermore, the NIC 650 is not limited to being wired, and may be wireless. The situation determination device 10 configured in this manner can obtain the same effects as the situation determination device 10 in FIG. 1. This is because the CPU 610 of the situation determination device 10 can realize functions similar to those of the situation determination device 10 in FIG. 1 based on a program.

[0089] <Second embodiment> The situation determination device 10 may use sensor information stored in a device not shown (for example, a storage device or storage system in a predetermined cloud that acquires and stores sensor information from the drive recorder 20). Alternatively, the situation determination device 10 may store the disaster determination result in a storage unit not shown. In these cases, the situation determination device 10 may not include the sensor information acquisition unit 110 and the notification unit 150. Therefore, such a case will be described as a second embodiment.

[0090] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the situation determination device 11 according to the second embodiment. The situation determination device 11 includes an area specification unit 120, a ground surface information acquisition unit 130, and a disaster determination unit 140. The area specification unit 120 specifies an area for acquiring changes in the ground surface using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device (e.g., a drive recorder 20). The ground surface information acquisition unit 130 acquires changes in the ground surface in the specified area, which are the results of an analysis using measurement results (e.g., SAR images) acquired by a ground surface measurement device (e.g., SAR 30). Then, the disaster determination unit 140 uses the changes in the ground surface to determine the occurrence of a disaster in the area. The situation determination device 11 may be configured using the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 5. The situation determination device 11 configured in this way can obtain the same effects as the situation determination device 10.

[0091] <Third embodiment> The output destination of the determination result of the situation determination device 10 may be one. Moreover, the situation determination device 10 does not need to acquire information from the information providing device 70. Therefore, an example of a situation determination system 80 in such a case will be described as a third embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a situation determination system 81 according to the third embodiment. The situation determination system 81 includes a situation determination device 10, a sensor information acquisition device 21, a ground surface measurement device 31, and a display device 40. The situation determination device 10 operates as described above. The sensor information acquisition device 21 (e.g., a drive recorder 20) outputs sensor information to the situation determination device 10. The ground surface measurement device 31 (e.g., a SAR 30) outputs changes in the ground surface to the situation determination device 10. The display device 40 displays the result of the disaster determination output by the situation determination device 10. In the situation determination system 80 configured in this manner, the situation determination device 10 obtains changes in the ground surface from a ground surface measurement device 31 (e.g., SAR 30) using sensor information obtained from a sensor information acquisition device 21 (e.g., a drive recorder 20). Then, the situation determination device 10 outputs the disaster determination result determined using the changes in the ground surface to the display device 40. Then, the display device 40 displays the disaster determination result. As a result, the situation determination system 81 configured in this manner can obtain the same effects as the situation determination system 80.

[0092] A part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but is not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

[0093] (Appendix 1) an area specifying means for specifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface by using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquiring device; a ground surface information acquisition means for acquiring changes in the ground surface in the specified area, the changes being the result of an analysis using the measurement results acquired by the ground surface measurement device; a disaster determination means for determining the occurrence of a disaster in an area using changes in the ground surface; A situation determination device including:

[0094] (Appendix 2) The sensor information includes at least one of information related to a moving object on which a sensor information acquisition device is mounted and information related to a structure on which the moving object travels. 2. A situation determination device according to claim 1.

[0095] (Appendix 3) The structure is a road, The moving object is a vehicle traveling on a road. 3. A situation determination device as described in appended claim 2.

[0096] (Appendix 4) The sensor information includes at least one of a position and a traveling direction of a moving body equipped with a sensor information acquisition device, The area specifying means specifies the area using at least one of the acquired position and traveling direction of the moving object. 4. The situation determination device according to claim 2 or 3.

[0097] (Appendix 5) The region specifying means When the occurrence of congestion is detected using sensor information, the area is identified. 5. A situation determination device according to claim 1.

[0098] (Appendix 6) The disaster determination means determines the occurrence of a disaster using the sensor information. 6. A situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

[0099] (Appendix 7) The disaster determination means determines the extent of the disaster using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. 7. A situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

[0100] (Appendix 8) The disaster determination means determines the type of disaster using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. 8. A situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

[0101] (Appendix 9) The disaster determination means determines the extent of the disaster using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. 9. A situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

[0102] (Appendix 10) The disaster determination means determines that the type of disaster is an earthquake. 9. The situation determination device according to claim 8.

[0103] (Appendix 11) The disaster determination means determines at least one of the magnitude and the epicenter of the earthquake using at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. 11. The situation determination device according to claim 10.

[0104] (Appendix 12) The disaster determination means uses the type of the ground surface. 12. A situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

[0105] (Appendix 13) The type of land surface includes at least one of water surface, mud, dry soil, grassland, forest, farmland, and snow cover. 13. The situation determination device according to claim 12.

[0106] (Appendix 14) Further comprising a notification means for notifying information related to a disaster; When the disaster determination means determines that a disaster has occurred, the notification means notifies information related to the disaster that has occurred. 14. A situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

[0107] (Appendix 15) The notification means selects notification destinations of disaster-related information using the sensor information. 15. The situation determination device according to claim 14.

[0108] (Appendix 16) The notification means notifies at least one of the sensor information and the change in the ground surface. 16. The situation determination device according to claim 14 or 15.

[0109] (Appendix 17) Further comprising a sensor information acquiring means for acquiring sensor information; The sensor information acquiring means switches the type of sensor information to be acquired by using the acquired sensor information. 17. A situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

[0110] (Appendix 18) The sensor information acquisition means acquires sensor information used for determining the occurrence of a disaster in response to an instruction from the disaster determination means; The disaster determination means determines the occurrence of a disaster using the acquired sensor information. 18. The situation determination device according to claim 17.

[0111] (Appendix 19) The sensor information acquisition means acquires sensor information from a plurality of sensor information acquisition devices; The area specifying means specifies an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface by using the sensor information acquired from the plurality of sensor information acquiring devices. 19. The situation determination device according to claim 17 or 18.

[0112] (Appendix 20) A situation determination device according to any one of appendix 1 to 19, a sensor information acquisition device that outputs sensor information to the situation determination device; a ground surface measuring device that outputs changes in the ground surface to the situation determining device; a display device that displays the results of disaster determination output by the situation determination device; A situation determination system including:

[0113] (Appendix 21) Identifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device; Obtaining changes in the ground surface in the identified area that are the result of an analysis using the measurement results obtained by the ground surface measurement device; Using changes in the earth's surface to determine the occurrence of disasters in an area How to assess the situation.

[0114] (Appendix 22) A situation determination device executes the situation determination method described in Supplementary Note 21, The sensor information acquisition device outputs sensor information to the situation determination device, The ground surface measurement device outputs changes in the ground surface to the situation determination device, The display device displays the result of the disaster determination output by the situation determination device. How to assess the situation.

[0115] (Appendix 23) A process of identifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device; A process of acquiring changes in the ground surface in the identified area, the changes being the result of an analysis using the measurement results acquired by the ground surface measurement device; A process for determining the occurrence of a disaster in an area using changes in the ground surface; A recording medium for recording a program that causes a computer to execute the above.

[0116] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0117] 10. Situation Assessment Device 11 Situation Judgment Device 20. Drive Recorder 21 Sensor information acquisition device 30 SAR 31 Ground measurement device 40 Display device 50 vehicles 60 Alarm System 70 Information provision device 80 Situation Judgment System 110 Sensor information acquisition unit 120 Area identification part 130 Surface information acquisition section 140 Disaster Assessment Department 150 Notification Department 610 CPU 620 ROM 630 RAM 640 Storage device 650NIC 810 Computer 820 Drive Recorder 830 SAR System 840 Terminal Equipment 850 vehicles 880 Network

Claims

1. an area specifying means for specifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface by using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquiring device; a ground surface information acquisition means for acquiring changes in the ground surface in the specified area, the changes being the result of an analysis using measurement results acquired by a ground surface measurement device; a disaster determination means for determining the occurrence of a disaster in the area by using the change in the ground surface and the sensor information; Including, The disaster determination means determines a type and an extent of the disaster using the distribution of changes in the ground surface and the sensor information, and further the sensor information includes an image; The disaster determination means determines the level of flooding by using structures and flooded surfaces included in the image as the level of the disaster. Situation assessment device.

2. The sensor information includes at least one of information related to a moving object on which the sensor information acquisition device is mounted and information related to a structure on which the moving object travels. The situation determination device according to claim 1 .

3. the structure is a road, The moving object is a vehicle traveling on a road. The situation determination device according to claim 2 .

4. the sensor information includes at least one of a position and a traveling direction of the moving object equipped with the sensor information acquisition device, The area specifying means specifies the area using at least one of the acquired position and traveling direction of the moving object. The situation determination device according to claim 2 or 3.

5. The region specifying means When the occurrence of a traffic jam is determined using the sensor information, the area is identified. The situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The situation determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the sensor information acquisition device that outputs the sensor information to the situation determination device; the ground surface measurement device, which outputs the measurement result to the situation determination device; a display device that displays the result of disaster determination output by the situation determination device; A situation determination system including:

7. Identifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device; Acquiring changes in the earth's surface in the identified area, which are the result of an analysis using the measurement results acquired by the earth's surface measurement device; Using the changes in the ground surface and the sensor information, determine the occurrence of a disaster in the area; and Using the distribution of changes in the ground surface and the sensor information, a type and an extent of the disaster are determined; and the sensor information includes an image; The level of flooding is determined based on the structures and flooded surface in the image to determine the extent of the disaster. How to assess the situation.

8. a situation determination device that executes the situation determination method according to claim 7; The sensor information acquisition device outputs the sensor information to the situation determination device, The ground surface measuring device outputs the measurement result to the situation determination device, A display device displays the result of the disaster determination output by the situation determination device. How to assess the situation.

9. A process of identifying an area for acquiring changes on the ground surface using sensor information acquired from a sensor information acquisition device; A process of acquiring changes in the earth's surface in the identified area, the changes being the result of an analysis using the measurement results acquired by the earth's surface measurement device; A process of determining an occurrence of a disaster in the area using the change in the ground surface and the sensor information; A process of determining the type and extent of a disaster using the distribution of changes on the ground surface and the sensor information; and causing the computer to execute the following: the sensor information includes an image; The process of determining the type and extent of the disaster determines the height of the flooding using the structures and flooded surfaces included in the image as the extent of the disaster. A program that causes a computer to execute the following.

Images