Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring

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Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring (PRISM)
Initial release2016
Repositoryhttps://github.com/WFP-VAM/prism-app
Written inTypescript, Python
TypeOpen Source Software
LicenseMIT License
Websitehttps://innovation.wfp.org/project/prism

The Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring (PRISM) is an open source climate risk monitoring platform that integrates geospatial data on climate-related hazards along with socioeconomic vulnerability in an interactive map interface. PRISM is a program managed by the World Food Programme (WFP).[1]

The software is recognized as a Digital Public Good (DPG) by the Digital Public Goods Alliance.[2]

History

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PRISM was first launched in Indonesia under the name VAMPIRE (Vulnerability Analysis Monitoring Platform for Impact of Regional Events) during the 2015-2016 El Niño storm cycle, which devastated agriculture production after unexpected prolonged drought.[3] This project was the result of a collaboration between WFP and Pulse Lab Jakarta (PLJ), a joint initiative between the United Nations and the Government of Indonesia. The tool used data science to combine datasets on Indonesia's national socio-economic survey, WFP’s household food security surveys, rainfall anomalies, and the Indonesian Vegetation Health Index into a visualized interface to automate analysis.[4] Sri Lanka's government requested that a platform like VAMPIRE be developed for its Disaster Management Ministry to deal with drought and floods.[5]

In 2020, PRISM went through a significant technology overhaul that updated its warning systems for crisis management and disaster risk reduction.[6] As of 2025, PRISM is actively used by the governments of Cambodia,[7] Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia to measure drought and abnormal weather impact on vulnerable populations.

Implementations

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PRISM has been used by a number of different countries and governments:

  • Indonesia – An early version of PRISM was launched in Indonesia in 2016 using the name VAMPIRE.[8] It is used today by the government to reduce disaster risk from climate-related events.
  • Sri Lanka – In 2017, Sri Lanka used the VAMPIRE codebase to build the current version of PRISM.[9] Sri Lanka's Department of Meteorology enabled real-time monitoring of climate information through PRISM.[10] In 2022, WFP approved $7 million for Sri Lanka food security initiatives, including the ability to adapt to changing weather patterns.
  • Cambodia – Since 2017, Cambodia's national community-based poverty identification system, IDPoor, has been integrated with PRISM to link socioeconomic data with geospatial data to map climate-related vulnerabilities. PRISM was used in 2020 to leverage satellite data to localize assistance to flood-affected areas[11]
  • Mongolia – In 2020, Mongolia's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring (NAMEM) integrated PRISM with the Mongolia Data Cube[12] as part of the SIBELIUs project, a UK-funded initiative to improve weather-related insights for Mongolian farmers[13] to help prevent and reduce dzud.

There are also a number of deployments that are in development across Africa and Latin America.[1] In March 2025, Mozambique launched a deployment of PRISM through its National Meteorological Institute (INAM) to better measure abnormal weather in real-time.[14][15] Deployments of PRISM in Afghanistan were planned, but paused due to the political crisis in 2021. Further deployments are in discussion in Myanmar,[16] Zimbabwe,[17] and several other countries in Asia and Africa.

Technology

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PRISM uses data from Earth Observation tools, including satellites and ground sensors.[1] It layers weather, climate, and agricultural data such as vegetation health, rainfall, and temperature, on top of socioeconomic data for each country it is deployed in to provide near real-time data visualization on especially vulnerable populations.[18] PRISM is able to show current conditions as well as anomalies for expected weather for a given time of year. As an open source software project, PRISM has shared configuration files that any deployment can access and customize.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "PRISM | WFP Innovation". innovation.wfp.org. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  2. ^ "PRISM". Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  3. ^ "Unsdg | Fusing datasets to track the impact of disasters in Indonesia and beyond… VAMPIRE is on it!". unsdg.un.org. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  4. ^ "Vampire". vampire.pulselabjakarta.org. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  5. ^ "Tackling Sri Lanka's climate change with data". govinsider.asia. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  6. ^ "Prism warning system upgraded". Archived from the original on 2024-06-22. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  7. ^ "Slide Presentation of the National Open Data Conference 2024: Day 2 - National Committee for Disaster Management: Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring (PRISM) & Cambodia Disaster Damage & Loss Information System (CamDI) - OD Mekong Datahub". data.opendevelopmentcambodia.net. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  8. ^ "UN Global Pulse". Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  9. ^ "PRISM Documentation". wfpidn.github.io. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  10. ^ "US$7 million WFP grant to provide farmers with local climate info". Print Edition - The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  11. ^ "Leveraging climate risk data tools to inform social protection: The case of WFP's Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring (PRISM) | World Food Programme". www.wfp.org. 2023-07-10. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  12. ^ "Fighting Climate-Related Food Insecurity | Arts & Sciences". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  13. ^ "SIBELIUs: Improved resilience for Mongolian herding communities". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  14. ^ "Mozambique: Real time meteorological system launched". Mozambique. Retrieved 2025-06-16. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  15. ^ Henriques, Bárbara (2025-03-25). "Government Launches Platform for Real-Time Weather and Climate Analysis • 360 Mozambique". 360 Mozambique. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  16. ^ "Feasibility assessment on Forecast-based Action in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar". Anticipation Hub. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  17. ^ "Scaling up anticipatory actions for food security: Anticipatory Action Year in Focus 2023 | World Food Programme". www.wfp.org. 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  18. ^ "WFP: Platform for Real-Time Impact and Situation Monitoring (PRISM) | UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal". www.un-spider.org. Retrieved 2025-06-16.
  19. ^ WFP-VAM/prism-app, WFP-VAM, 2025-06-10, retrieved 2025-06-16