News
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Google Map Maker: Extended to cover UK Thu Apr 11 2013The free mapping tool Google Map Maker is expanding its edit tools to cover the United Kingdom, as BBC reported. Users can add buildings, vegetations, roads, rivers and railways and other features to the maps contained in the tool. All additions are revised and approved by the user community and Google staff before going online. Google Map Maker started in 2008 covering only Pakistan and Vietnam...
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Belarus: Plans for communication satellite Thu Apr 11 2013The Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BeITA) reported that Belarus has started a project for the creation of a communication satellite. BeITA names Sergei Zolotoi, Director of the enterprise Geoinformation Systems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, as the source for this announcement. The project will be carried out by China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), with the contract being...
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Canada's Radarsat-1: Towards retirement after 28 successful years Thu Apr 11 2013Having surpassed its expected lifespan by 12 years, on March 29, 2013, Canada's first Earth Observation satellite, RADARSAT-1, moved towards retirement due to a technical malfunction. The Canadian Space Agency's (CSA) experts have put the spacecraft in "safe mode" - a semi-dormant state that conserves energy. The team will now investigate the anomaly, but has low expectations of a full...
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Haiti: Innovative high-technology disaster mitigation project launched Wed Apr 10 2013The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) and Taiwan (Province of China) announced the launch of the Haiti/DR Disaster Mitigation Project, an innovative crisis and risk prevention intervention that melds high-technology innovation with low-technology solutions to reduce the impact of natural hazards in the communities of South East Haiti and the South East border region between the...
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Europe: Meteosat-9 satellite takes over Rapid Scanning Service Wed Apr 10 2013On 9 April 2013, Eumetsat's Meteosat-9 satellite took over the rapid scanning imagery service (RSS) from Meteosat-8. After being replaced in January by Meteosat-10 as the prime operational satellite supplying full disk images of Europe and Africa, Meteosat-9 now provides the RSS, delivering more frequent images every five minutes over Europe only. The two-satellite system continues the services...
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Iran: Plans for launch of seven new satellites Mon Apr 8 2013During the new Iranian calendar year which started on March 21, the Islamic Republic of Iran plans to launch seven satellites into space, Hamid Fezeli, Head of the Iran Space Agency (ISA) said. ISA is also host of one of UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Offices. The Nahid, a satellite which is designed by experts at the research centre of ISA with the cooperation of the scientists from Amirkabir...
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Japan: Expansion of navigation satellite system QZSS Mon Apr 8 2013Japan is expanding its navigation satellite program to augment GPS navigation signals for users in the Asia-Pacific region, as spaceflightnow.com reported. The expansion of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) will be carried out via a $526 million contract with the company Mitsubishi Electric, which will build three navigation satellites to be launched by the end of 2017. Two of these...
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Climate Change: Warming temperatures will intensify extreme precipitation Fri Apr 5 2013According to a newly-published study by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as the globe warms from rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, more moisture in a warmer atmosphere will make the most extreme precipitation events more intense. The study, conducted by a team of researchers from the North Carolina State University’s Cooperative Institute for...
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Beidou: Thailand becomes first overseas client Fri Apr 5 2013Thailand has become the first overseas user of the Chinese satellite navigation system Beidou - the Chinese version of the American GPS. China National Radio said a 2 billion yuan (9.5 billion baht) agreement to promote the use of Beidou in Thailand's public sector was signed in Bangkok last week, as the South China Morning Post reported. The system will be used in disaster relief, power...
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Japan: The world's first satellite communications helicopter Thu Apr 4 2013This will significantly enhance the crisis response and coordination activities of Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA): the AS365 N3 helicopter. Delivered by Eurocopter Japan, this is the world's first helicopter equipped with the Helicopter Satellite Communication System - a high-speed, real-time data transmission system, using Earth-orbiting relay satellites. The HSA...
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Pakistan: First National Disaster Management Plan approved Thu Apr 4 2013Earlier this year, Pakistan has approved its first National Disaster Management Plan. The highly disaster-prone country seeks to improve and build on existing infrastructure in order to support emergency assistance. An earlier flood risk management program in the Lai Nullah Basin had become a great success, reducing flood damage in this region dramatically. With this accomplishment in mind, Ahmed...
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International Charter: Geographic tool to track activations Wed Apr 3 2013The “Charter Geographic Tool” was developed by the Charter member CNES (French National Centre for Space Studies) in order to establish a comprehensive record of all images acquired by the Charter members in response to Charter activations, as the international mechanism reports in its latest newsletter. Over and above the utility of such a record as an internal tool to the Charter,...
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Satellite data to support ice monitoring and flood preparedness in Ukraine Wed Apr 3 2013Over the period March 22-24, 2013, northern and western regions of Ukraine experienced a snowfall equal to the monthly norm. The amount of snow and rising temperatures significantly increased the risk of potential floods. The state of emergency was declared in Kiev and its neighboring regions by local authorities due to the storm and high flood risk. According to the resolution no. 58922/59/1-11...
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China: Launch of high resolution EO satellite scheduled Wed Apr 3 2013China will launch the first satellite for its high-resolution system for Earth observation in April, as China's official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a government agency. Examinations of the satellite and its carrier rocket, the Long March 2D, have been completed and the satellite is now in the launch stage, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for...
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International Charter: March 2013 Newsletter available Tue Apr 2 2013The International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" published the March 2013 issue of their Newsletter, which is available online. The issue highlights among other topics the presentation of the International Charter's Universal Access initiative during the 2013 session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC) of the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)...
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UN-SPIDER RSO in Ukraine participated in Workshop on Wild Fires Tue Apr 2 2013On March 4th, 2013 experts of the UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office in Ukraine took part in the regional workshop “Wild fires in Eastern Europe: science, politics and management” and the official opening of the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMS) at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. Prof. N. Kussul and Dr. S. Skakun delivered a...
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Disaster Management: Europe and Japan join forces Thu Mar 28 2013In a recent press release the European Commission announced that Europe and Japan are forging a closer cooperation in disaster management. Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response and Akihiro Ohta, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan have exchanged letters providing a framework to further...
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Desertification: UNCCD 2nd Scientific Conference Wed Mar 27 2013From 9 to 13 April 2013, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is holding its 2nd Scientific Conference in Bonn, Germany. The UNCCD 2nd Scientific Conference puts a specific thematic focus on the "Economic assessment of desertification, sustainable land management and resilience of arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas", requiring the evaluation and analysis...
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Landsat: First Images Released From Newest Earth Observation Satellite Tue Mar 26 2013NASA and the Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have released the first images from the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite, which was launched Feb. 11. The natural-color images show the intersection of the United States Great Plains and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming and Colorado. In the images, green coniferous forests in the mountains...
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BeiDou Navigation Satellite System: Ground system improves precision Tue Mar 26 2013A ground system aimed at enhancing the navigation precision of the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) was approved in central China's Hubei Province on 22 March 2013, as the website CCTV reported. The BeiDou Ground Base Enhancement System (BGBES), a network consisting of 30 ground base stations, an operating system and a precision positioning system, was approved by the evaluation...
