News
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Bush fires in Australia: NASA satellite captures hot spots Fri Feb 22 2013The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image showing large bush fires burning in southwestern Victoria on February 18, 2013. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fires. Winds blew a long plume of smoke south toward the Bass Strait. About 300 firefighters using...
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USGS: Earthquakes will have higher impact Thu Feb 21 2013A new study by two USGS earthquake experts suggests that there will be more individual earthquakes with very large death tolls as well as more people dying during earthquakes than ever before. Thomas L. Holzer and his USGS coauthor James Savage studied earthquakes with death tolls of more than 50,000, which they define as catastrophic, and reported global death tolls from roughly 1500 A.D. to the...
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HOT: Demonstrating the usefulness of spatial data to partners Wed Feb 20 2013For UN-SPIDER's work, one of the core challenges is to demonstrate the usefulness and effectiveness of space-based information when dealing with partners who are not yet involved in the use of such data and therefore not familiar with its applications. For the Humanitarian Open Street Map team, a network of volunteers involved in crowdsourced mapping, this challenge is no different. In a recent...
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Space Sustainability: Practical Guide published by SWF Tue Feb 19 2013Secure World Foundation (SWF), an NGO that envisions the secure, sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space contributing to global stability on Earth, recently published an updated version of a practical guide on space sustainability. Satellites provide tangible social, scientific, strategic and economic benefits to billions of individuals throughout the globe. From satellite navigation to...
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Typhoon Bopha: Philippines prepare for next super-storms Tue Feb 19 2013Super-typhoon Bopha (locally called Pablo) that hit the Philippines on 4 December 2012 was one of the worst storms the region had ever seen. The category 5 storm produced wind speeds of up to 195mph. It was the world's deadliest typhoon in 2012, killing 1,067 people, with 800 left missing and 6.2 million people affected. The cost of the damage are estimated to reach $1bn. The amount and intensity...
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NASA and ESA improve imagery compatibility Mon Feb 18 2013ESA and NASA have joined forces to ensure that Sentinel-2 and the newly launched Landsat Data Continuity Mission offer compatible data products, thereby bringing greater benefits to users of images of Earth’s land and coastal zones. ESA is currently developing the two-satellite Sentinel-2 mission for Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative. With the first satellite...
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ESA launches Earth Observation app event Fri Feb 15 2013Following the success of last year’s first ever App Camp organised by ESA, 20 app developers from all over Europe will be invited once again to ESA’s ESRIN centre in Frascati, Italy, on 3–10 June. The event aims at helping to bring Earth observation services to the everyday user with your ideas for mobile phone applications. ESA will provide Internet and access to satellite data...
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SARAL-Altika: France and India will launch joint satellite Thu Feb 14 2013Indo-French space cooperation is all set to soar to new heights with the scheduled launch of a satellite to study changes in the environment soon after the visit of French President Francois Hollande in New Delhi next week. The SARAL-Altika satellite, a joint project of the space agencies of India and France, will complement the observations of the seas made by current satellites. Indian Space...
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GPS: Researchers develop approach to improve precision Thu Feb 14 2013Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have developed a new system which improves the ability of a GPS to determine a vehicle's position as compared to that of conventional GPS devices by up to 90 percent, and which can be installed in any vehicle at a very low cost. The prototype incorporates a conventional GPS signal with those of other sensors (accelerometers and gyroscopes...
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East African Community backs Hyogo Framework Wed Feb 13 2013The East African Community (EAC) today announced that it is renewing its commitment to implement the global disaster risk reduction framework, the Hyogo Framework for Action, and that it had agreed last week on a new plan, as UNISDR reported. Speaking today at the opening of the 5th Africa Drought Forum, Jesca Eriyo, EAC Deputy Secretary-General, said that Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and...
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Toward Resilience: ECB publishes guide for Disaster Risk Reduction Wed Feb 13 2013Toward Resilience: A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) is an introductory resource for staff of development and humanitarian organizations working with people whose live and rights are threatened by disasters and climate change. It was published by the Emergency Capacity Building Project (ECB) in January 2013. The guide provides essential introductory...
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NASA launches new Landsat satellite Tue Feb 12 2013On 4 February 2013 NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) lifted off into space aboard an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The LDCM spacecraft separated from the rocket 79 minutes after launch and the first signal was received 3 minutes later at a ground station in Svalbard, Norway. The solar arrays deployed 86 minutes after launch, and the spacecraft is...
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ESA: Mapping global vegetation with a miniature satellite Tue Feb 12 2013ESA’s Proba-V, despite being only a little larger than a washing machine, will provide in the near future provide sharp views of Earth’s plant life every two days. Keeping a close check on the health of vegetation is not only essential for monitoring environmental change, but also for numerous practical applications – importantly, those related to agriculture, food security or...
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UN-SPIDER's 4th Annual Meeting of Regional Support Offices Mon Feb 11 2013UN-SPIDER inaugurated on 11 February 2013 its 4th Annual meeting of Regional Support Offices (RSOs) on the premises of the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. The meeting is a side event of the annual session of the Scientific and Technical Sub Committee of the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) taking place from 11-22 February 2013. The meeting's participants included...
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Ozone Hole: Satellites show smallest size in ten years Mon Feb 11 2013Satellites show that the recent ozone hole over Antarctica was the smallest seen in the past decade. Long-term observations also reveal that Earth’s ozone has been strengthening following international agreements to protect this vital layer of the atmosphere. According to the ozone sensor on Europe’s MetOp weather satellite, the hole over Antarctica in 2012 was the smallest in the last 10 years....
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UNISDR: Global Disaster Risk Assessment Report takes Shape Mon Feb 11 2013Work is entering the final stages on UNISDR's new edition of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR13) which will appear in May this year. It is already being hailed by many peer reviewers as a "pioneering" piece of work because of its focus on risk as a major blind spot for the private sector. UNISDR Chief Margareta Wahlström, wrapping up a two-day meeting...
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GPS Community to launch new Association Sun Feb 10 2013The GPS industry is forming a new trade association called the GPS Innovation Alliance, as InsideGNSS reported. The Alliance will work to educate policy makers and the public about the GPS system and protect the interests of the hundreds of organizations and users that rely upon the constellation, according to sources familiar with the new group. The new organization will be based in Washington,...
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ESA: Contract for Meteosat Third Generation Lightning Imagers Fri Feb 8 2013A new era of meteorological satellites under development has begun with a ceremony held at the Palazzo Vecchio town hall in Florence, Italy. This event was an important milestone: the signature of an industrial contract for the provision of four novel lightning imagers. The challenge of developing the lightning imager instrument now falls to Selex ES under contract from the Meteosat Third...
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Ariane 5: First liftoff of 2013 Fri Feb 8 2013The first Ariane 5 heavy-lift mission of the year has delivered the Azerspace/Africasat-1a and Amazonas-3 telecom satellites into their planned transfer orbits. Liftoff of flight VA212 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana came at 21:36 GMT (22:36 CET; 18:36 French Guiana) right at the opening of the launch window. The target injection orbit had a perigee altitude of 246.9 km, an apogee...
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International Charter activated for earthquake and tsunami off Solomon Islands Thu Feb 7 2013The International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" was activated on 6 February for the 0.8 magnitude earthquake that took place off the coast of Solomon Islands and the subsequent 0.9 m tsunami that struck the Santa Cruz Islands at 01:12 GMT on the same day. The international mechanisms to provide satellite information and maps after major disasters was triggered by UNITAR/UNOSAT. Five people...
