United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

11 December 2008 - In June 2008, the Government of Burkina Faso officially requested a UN-SPIDER Technical Advisory Mission to assess the use of space-based information for disaster management and emergency response in Burkina Faso, and to identify potential areas where space-based information could play a greater role. A five-member team of international experts conducted the Technical Advisory Mission in Burkina Faso from 17 to 21 November 2008. Among other issues, the mission team discussed how space-based technology could contribute to information management in different sectors of disaster management, such as drought and flood monitoring, control of epidemics, or locust invasion. The International Charter "Space and Major Disasters," a mechanism to support emergency response services worldwide with satellite-derived disaster information, was presented to national institutions. Also presented were successful early warning systems in the region, such as locust invasion warning systems.
The mission team included experts from the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL), the French Space Agency (CNES), UNOCHA's Regional Office for West Africa in Dakar, Senegal, and UN-SPIDER. The team visited a total of 15 institutions, including nine governmental institutions, four UN organizations (UNDP, UNOCHA, WFP, WHO), and one bilateral institution (FEWSNET). Preliminary results were presented during a debriefing session at the end of the mission. A technical report with recommendations is being prepared, which will be presented to the COPUOS Scientific and Technical Sub-committee in February 2009. Furthermore, a strategy is being developed to explore what kind of follow-up mechanisms may be implemented in Burkina Faso in terms of capacity development and institutional strengthening.

27 November 2008 - UN-SPIDER, one of the sponsors of the AARSE conference (African Association of Remote Sensing for the Environment) held from 27 to 31 October 2008 in Accra, Ghana, co-chaired a special session on "Disaster Management and Early Warning Systems" together with UNEDRA, the University Network for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa. Researchers linked to UNEDRA presented the results of recent studies in Africa, some of which were cross-border research initiatives, on issues such as vulnerability assessments in mangrove areas, desertification, and flood monitoring. UN-SPIDER's regional initiatives and cooperating partners were also presented. Several papers featured innovative approaches to integrate remotely sensed data and socio-economic indicators in a framework of vulnerability.
The conference also offered the opportunity for a side-meeting with the National Disaster Management Office of Ghana, which brought together institutions from Ghana and the region to discuss how space-based technology could contribute to disaster management in the country.

27 November 2008 - The workshop on the "Use of Space Technology for Disaster Management and Emergency Response - Technical, Organisational and Legal Aspects" took place from 10 to 12 November 2008 in Rabat, Morocco. The workshop was organized by the Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology in French Language (CRASTE-LF) jointly with UN-SPIDER, the Islamic Educational, Science and Cultural Organisation (IESCO), the Islamic Development Bank, the Centre Royal de Télédétection Spatiale (CRTS) and the Ecole Mohammedia d'Ingénieur (EMI). The workshop, which was attended by 130 participants from 23 countries, covered four main themes: Space technology available for disaster management, regional and international initiatives for disaster management, national experiences and space law.
A large number of regional and international initiatives presented at the workshop. Participants also appreciated very much the exchange of experiences with space technology and space-based information for disaster management gained in many different countries of the region. The workshop programme and presentations are available for download. The recommendations of this workshop will be posted at the website of CRASTE-LF.

French version/version française:
Un workshop intitulé "L'Outil Spatial au Service de la Gestion des Catastrophes et des Situations d'Urgence en Afrique - Aspects Techniques, Organisationnelles et Juridiques" a eu lieu les 10, 11 et 12 novembre 2008 à Rabat (Maroc). L'atelier a été Organisé par le Centre Régional Africain des Sciences et Technologies de l'Espace en Langue Française (CRASTE-LF) conjointement avec le Bureau des Affaires spatiales de l'ONU à Vienne (programme UN-SPIDER), l'Organisation Islamique pour l'Education, les Sciences et la Culture (ISESCO), la Banque Islamique de Développement (BID), le Centre Royal de Télédétection Spatiale (CRTS - Maroc) et l'Ecole Mohammedia d'Ingénieur (EMI - Maroc).
L'atelier qui a vu la participation de plus de 130 participants de 23 pays était organisé autour de quatre principaux thèmes: Panorama des techniques spatiales pour la gestion des catastrophes, initiatives régionales et internationales pour la gestion des catastrophes, expériences nationales pour la gestion des catastrophes, et aspects juridiques et droit spatial.
Un nombre important d'initiatives régionales et internationales sont intervenues au cours de l'atelier et le contenu des présentations des expériences nationales était très riche. Nous vous invitations à jeter un coup d'œil sur le programme et sur les communications. Les recommandations finales seront contenues dans un rapport qui est en train d'être rédigé et qui sera bientôt disponible sur le site du CRASTE-LF.

21 October 2008 - On 13-15 October 2008, over a hundred international experts and decision-makers from over forty countries gathered at the UN Campus in Bonn to participate in the Second United Nations International UN-SPIDER Bonn Workshop: "Disaster Management and Space Technology - Bridging the Gap." At the Workshop, the delegates were enthusiastic about the first preview of the UN-SPIDER "Knowledge Portal," a web-based platform for knowledge exchange and communication. Throughout the remainder of the workshop, the delegates contributed additional improvements to the Knowledge Portal and joined "Core Groups" to continue these discussions even after the close of the workshop. The Workshop also stressed the importance of vulnerability and risk assessment, early warning stystems, and health aspects in the context of disasters.
Those in attendance included experts from international organizations such as OCHA, UNHCR, and WFP; and regional organizations such as the European Commision. Many space agencies and national civil protection agencies were present, including those from China, Europe, India, Iran, Nigeria, Ukraine, and the United States. The Workshop was organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), with support from the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction - Platform for the Promotion of Early Warning (ISDR/PPEW) and the United Nations University - Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).

3 October 2008 - Over 50 decision makers and senior experts from disaster management and space technology communities from 17 Pacific Island countries and neighbouring regions gathered in Suva, Fiji, from 16 to 19 September 2008, for a UN-SPIDER regional workshop. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission ( SOPAC) and UNESCAP.
Many disaster management offices on the Pacific islands have only extremely limited resources available in terms of man power and financial resources. The islands are far from each other, and many islands do not have populations big enough to allow the maintenance of costly infrastructure. In the case of disaster, help may be thousands of miles away and take days to arrive. Identifying vulnerable populations in advance, monitoring hazards to be able to warn early enough, be it an approaching cyclone or a slow-onset coastal erosion reinforced by global climate change, are therefore key to successful disaster management in the Pacific. Regional and international networking are thought to play a prominent role to make space-based information and technology more accessible in the Pacific region. The workshop participants were also invited to attend the launch of the Pacific Disaster Net ( www.pacificdisaster.net), a web-based portal that will help to link disaster management specialists and resources throughout the Pacific region.

18 September 2008 - From 8 to 12 September 2008, the "Spring School on Natural Disasters and Spatial Solutions for Disaster Management - Flooding" took place in Santa Maria/Brazil. The Spring School, organized by Campus Brazil of CRECTEALC and supported by UN-SPIDER, INPE/GEODESASTRES-SUL, GEO, PNUMA, and UFSM brought together 35 participants from 11 countries in South America. This year's course set focus on emergency response for floods, a major causes of disasters in Latin America. Young professionals from both disaster management and geosciences backgrounds exchanged their experiences and were introduced to new space-based approaches. Availability of free satellite imagery, specific techniques for image processing to detect flooded areas and the integration of field work, civil defense and the national health authority through geo-technologies were some of the topics covered. Course participants were enthusiastic when discovering how the integration of spatial information on flood events through common data protocols can lead to a better coordination and response delivery by civil defense and national health authorities.
During the Spring School, Ms Tania Maria Sausen, who coordinated the course, was awarded a silver medal from Civil Defense Brazil for outstanding research on geo-technologies for disaster management with her research group at GEODESASTRES-SUL.

11 September 2008 - Following a request of the Government of Burkina Faso, UN-SPIDER staff member Joerg Szarzynski met with representatives from several ministries and institutions in Ouagadougou on 29 August 2008 to discuss UN-SPIDER's support to disaster management in the country: Ministère de l'Environnement et du Cadre de vie, Programme National de Gestion de l'Information sur le Milieu (PNGIM), Ministère de l'action Sociale/Conseil national des Secours d'Urgence (CONASUR), Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, l'Institut Géographique du Burkina, Ministère des Transports, Direction de la Météorologie, and the WHO/AFRO Multi-Disease Surveillance Center. An important objective of UN-SPIDER's is the further development and integration of space-based technology within already existing national disaster management plans including through technical advisory missions.
Improved regional early warning systems, which combine ground measurements with satellite-based data collection, have led to advances in weather and climate prediction and improved our understanding of the relationships between human health and the environment. Integrating such regional systems into disaster risk reduction programmes is key to strengthening national disaster management. The vulnerability of West African countries such as Burkina Faso to climate and environmental changes is likely to increase as demands on resources continue to rise in association with rapidly growing populations. Epidemics of weather- and climate-sensitive infectious diseases, such as malaria, meningitis, and cholera, cause massive disruption to societies and overburden national health systems. A visit to the Multi-Disease Surveillance Center revealed the importance of health in the context of disaster management, especially the distribution of vector-borne diseases.

11 September 2008 - More than 200 researchers, politicians and stakeholders from around the world attended the international conference 'Global Change and Water Resources in West Africa', in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 25 to 28 August 2008. The conference offered a platform for researchers to meet with West African politicians and stakeholders from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, and Morocco in the framework of the GLOWA (Global Change in the Hydrological Cycle) program. The conference was hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and organized by the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of Bonn University, Germany. UN-SPIDER was represented by Joerg Szarzynski who presented UN-SPIDER activities. He was also selected as member of the international panel that evaluated the conference.
Climate projections for the West African region indicate an increasing trend in the occurrence of weather extremes. The disaster management agencies in the region will have to cope with a higher number of natural disasters, especially droughts and floods. Vector borne diseases and locust plagues additionally deteriorate the living conditions of the local population.
After the conference, several regional excursions were offered to the participants, among them a visit to in-situ measurement locations of a bio-geophysical observation network that was established in frame of the GLOWA projects. This system is contributing to the national hydro-meteorological network that provides information for weather forecasting and related early warning messages. It combines important features of instrumental ground measurement and remote sensing techniques. The multiscale data collection is progressively incorporated into a web-based GIS database. The experimental sites are used for comprehensive ground-truth surveys, essential for the assessment of the accuracy of classified satellite imagery. Additionally, they serve to build capacity in the region by providing training opportunities for local students and research scientists.

08 September 2008 - The activities of UN-SPIDER were presented at the International Disaster and Risk Conference (IDRC) 2008 in Davos, Switzerland, 25-29 August. During a session dedicated to the role of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) in integral risk management, the ongoing cooperation between UN-SPIDER and GEOSS was outlined and discussed. Several organizations at the session, including CATHALAC (Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), showed their interest in cooperating with UN-SPIDER.
The motto of IDRC Davos 2008 was "Public-private partnership - Key for integral risk management and climate change mitigation and adaptation," reflecting the need for holistic and collaborative solutions in view of increasing numbers of disasters and enhanced vulnerability. Under the patronage of UN-ISDR, UNESCO and UNEP and in collaboration with a large number of other international institutions including FAO, OECD and the World Bank, the conference brought together more than 1,000 representatives from international bodies, national governments, disaster management and relief organisations, science and research, and private companies. Major topics were Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction, Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience, Pandemics and Diseases, and Integral Risk Management. The last plenary session was dedicated to an in-depth analysis of the May 12 earthquake in Wenchuan/China.

29 August 2008 - Heavy flooding in southeast Nepal and the Bihar state of India occurred after the Kosi river broke its banks. The river inundated a dry river bed and flooded scores of villages in both countries. Over 3 million people were displaced in India, and more than 70,000 flood victims needed assistance in Nepal.
In order to provide emergency services up-to-date geographic information regarding the extent of the flooded area and the further development of the river's course, UN agencies requested UNOOSA to activate the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters", a mechanism which provides for the rapid acquisition of satellite imagery over disaster areas. By utilizing radar satellites which could "see through" the monsoon cloud cover, mapping agencies obtained a true picture of the flooded area. Maps from the satellite data are being collected at the International Charter webpage. An early result from DLR/ZKI can also be found here. (Photo credit: ©IFRC/Nepal, NIP)

15 August 2008 - On 26 July 2008, seismic activity at the Soufriere Hills Volcano started to increase in Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. This volcano has been intermittently active for 13 years. On 28 July, an explosion took place on the west side of a large lava dome at the summit. The dome partially collapsed, and there was a strong possibility that the explosion had caused instability in the rest of the dome, which could cause further collapses and endanger inhabited areas of the island. Staff at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) were not able to make any assessment of the stability of the dome due to persistent clouds obscuring the volcano. Within this backdrop, Roderick Stewart, Acting Director of MVO, requested assistance from the scientific community, including his fellow participants at the recent UN-SPIDER workshop for the Caribbean region, in order to obtain satellite imagery of the Volcano.
The assistance obtained led to several satellite imagery acquisitions and the activation of the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters." The imagery data allowed MVO to determine that the lava dome had not been destabilized by the explosion. As a result, the Government of Montserrat was able to save valuable resources by cancelling an evacuation that had been ordered as a precautionary measure. Reviewing the chain of events that led to this positive outcome, Mr. Stewart remarked, "I would particularly like to thank the forces that got me to the UN-SPIDER meeting in Barbados. None of this would have happened if I hadn't been there."

28 July 2008 - UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER received thanks from the China National Committee for Disaster Reduction (CNCDR) and the National Disaster Reduction Centre of China (NDRCC) for providing support to China during the recent catastrophic Wenchuan Earthquake which occurred on 12 May 2008. The National Disaster Reduction Centre of China (NDRCC) took the lead in using space-based information to support the emergency relief efforts. The UN-SPIDER Support Team, a group of experts made available by NDRCC for the upcoming UN-SPIDER Beijing Office, coordinated the work of nearly 40 analysts, mostly volunteers (see picture Mr. Liu San Chao, Ms. Li Suju, Head of the UN-SPIDER Support Team, and Mr. Wei Wu, 7 June 2008). The thank-you letter specifically recognised that the support received from UN-SPIDER helped China "coordinate with international agencies to provide to us satellite images of the earthquake areas" and that this was "very helpful in our timely acquirement of first hand information for the disaster assessment." In particular they thanked UN-SPIDER Programme Coordinator, David Stevens, "who came to Beijing and provided useful suggestions about our work". The support received "played a unique role in assisting our estimation about the magnitude of damage and greatly empowered the rescue and relief efforts to reduce the casualties and damage. While expressing our gratitude to your institution for your timely and most needed support, I wish that we continue our close cooperation in application for space technologies in disaster prevention and reduction for benefiting the people." China has been a major supporter of UN-SPIDER.

08 July 2008 - From 08 to 11 July 2008, more than 60 participants from Caribbean attended a UN-SPIDER workshop on Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management in the Caribbean region. The workshop brought together disaster managers from civil protection agencies, satellite technology and remote sensing experts, representatives from UN agencies and other institutions working in the region to discuss how satellite-based information and technology can improve disaster management. "Satellite-based information already plays an important role in the Caribbean for early warning and damage assessment but we have not yet fully utilized its great potential for disaster preparedness and risk reduction" says David Stevens, the UN-SPIDER coordinator. The Caribbean is regularly hit by hurricanes and tropical storms but volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, floods and landslides also constitute important hazards in the region. Additional information on the workshop can be found here.