United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER)
News from UN-SPIDER ( previous stories)
1st Regional Conference on Geoinformatics: Disaster Management and Early Warning Systems, Kuwait
|
19 December 2008 - The Gulf region faces a specific combination of hazards including climate change, drought, sand storms, air pollution, oil spills and landslide-caused tsunami. Government authorities and research institutions in the region are increasingly aware of the need to dispose of appropriate geo-spatial and space-based technology to successfully meet this challenge. This first regional conference on Geoinformatics, held from 24 to 26 November 2008 in Kuwait, was organized by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) in cooperation with the National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS), Egypt, to assess the application of geo-technology for disaster management and early warning systems.
Participants from Egypt, Italy, Libya, Oman, Syria, the United Kingdom and the United Nations (UN-SPIDER and WHO) presented case studies, research results and national experiences. The implementation of advanced communication and information technology, e.g. to ensure interoperability of subsystems in the generation of common operational pictures in situation centres, as well as decision support systems are thought to play a key role in strengthening disaster management in the region. Possible areas of collaboration between Kuwait and UN-SPIDER were also discussed. |
Technical Advisory Mission to Burkina Faso
|
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.
|
African Association of Remote Sensing for the Environment (AARSE) Conference in Accra, Ghana
|
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.
|