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NOAA updates its GPS system Fri May 28 2010The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it is modernizing its Global Positioning System to utilize advances in technology. Scientists at NOAA's National Geodetic Survey -- the official U.S. government source for determining precise latitude, longitude and elevation -- said the effort is important for activities requiring accurate positioning information -- including...
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Focus on user requirements at WGISS-29 Meeting in Bonn Wed May 26 2010The 29th Plenary of the Working Group on Information Systems and Services (WGISS) of the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites (CEOS) took place from 17 to 21 May 2010 on the UN premises in Bonn, Germany. Representatives of various space agencies and related institutions, such as the Thai Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), the Brazilian National Institute for...
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UN-SPIDER supporting the establishment of a crop-monitoring project in Guatemala Mon May 31 2010From 13 to 19 May UN-SPIDER organized and participated in meetings to discuss and elaborate a proposal for a potential project in Guatemala targeting the use of space-based information to assess the impact of drought and climate variability on crops. This project proposal has been submitted to the Guatemalan National Council of Science and Technology (CONCYT) for funding, and targets the...
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Fostering the SPIDER Thematic Partnership for Latin America and the Caribbean Mon May 31 2010From 10 to 12 May UN-SPIDER staff followed an invitation to participate in a meeting organized by Thermopylae Sciences and Technology to review and suggest improvements to the 3D-UDOP geo-viewer, UDOP meaning “User-Defined Operating Picture”. UN-SPIDER was invited to this meeting because of its experience related to disaster management. The meeting was attended by experts from several...
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UN-SPIDER participated in the “Workshop on Space-technology Applications in Disaster Risk Reduction” in Beijing Mon May 31 2010From 3 to 7 May 2010 UN-SPIDER staff participated in the “Workshop on Space-technology Applications in Disaster Risk Reduction” jointly hosted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, P.R.C. and the International Civil Defence Organization (ICDO) and organized by the National Disaster Reduction Center of China (NDRCC ) in Beijing. The workshop provided an opportunity for UN-SPIDER to...
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UN-SPIDER at the Second Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Nairobi Fri Apr 30 2010Following the invitation of the organisers, UN-SPIDER participated in the Second Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction that took place from 14 to 16 April 2010 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya in parallel to the First Ministerial Conference of Ministers Responsible for Meteorology in Africa. During this important constitutional event African ministers...
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TerraSAR-X's 'twin' satellite, TanDEM-X, certified ready for space Fri Apr 30 2010The construction of the German radar satellite TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement) is complete and the satellite has been qualified for space operations during a series of tests conducted at IABG in Ottobrunn, near Munich. As with its 'twin' satellite TerraSAR-X, the TanDEM-X project has been implemented as a public-private partnership (PPP) between the German Aerospace...
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Monitoring the Gulf Coast Oil Spill - UPDATED 05/05/2010 Thu Apr 29 2010Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the semi-submersible offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 rig workers and injuring 17 others. On April 24, it was found that the wellhead was damaged and was leaking oil into the Gulf. This significant spill poses a serious threat to wildlife, affecting as many as 400 species along the...
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ISRO to launch Cartosat-2B on May 9 Thu Apr 29 2010India's advanced, high-resolution remote-sensing satellite Cartosat-2B would be launched on May 9 at 9.23 am from Sriharikota spaceport, ISRO said today. "It will be launched at 9.23 am on May 9 by PSLV-C15," Indian Space Research Organisation spokesperson S Satish told PTI. The highly agile satellite is expected to give a boost to the tasks of infrastructure and urban planning. The on-...
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European Union Satellite Centre Signs Enterprise License Agreement With ESRI Espana Tue Apr 27 2010The European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) recently signed a multiyear enterprise license agreement (ELA) with ESRI Espana, giving the agency greater access to the latest geographic information system (GIS) technology, training, and consulting services. The EUSC operates under the auspices of the European Union (EU) Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The center provides imagery analysis...
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UN-SPIDER present in the II Hemispheric Encounter on National Mechanisms and Networks for Risk Reduction in Santa Marta, Colombia Tue Apr 27 2010UN-SPIDER present in the II Hemispheric Encounter on National Mechanisms and Networks for Risk Reduction. “Encounter of Santa Marta: From Theory to Practice”, 14 – 16 April 2010. Special Session: Space-based Applications for Managing Risk Reduction and Emergency Response in Latin America and the Caribbean Taking advantage of the 2nd Hemispheric Encounter of Santa Marta,...
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CATHALAC becomes new UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office Mon Apr 26 2010Panama-based CATHALAC (Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean) is the new UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office for Latin America and the Caribbean after signing a cooperation agreement with The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). CATHALAC’s participation as a Regional Support Office for UN-SPIDER includes promoting the development and...
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SpaceAid supports response to China earthquake bridging space data providers with disaster management authorities Tue Apr 27 2010On April 14, 2010 the Southern Quinghai region in the north-west of China experienced a 6.9 magnitude earthquake which left hundreds of people dead and the majority of population injured. The immediate reports from China indicated more than 15,000 houses destroyed with a high risk of people being trapped by the destroyed infrastructure. The importance of high resolution satellite imagery was...
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UN-SPIDER Technical Advisory Mission to Maldives Thu Jun 3 2010Following the invitation from the Government of the Republic of Maldives, a Technical Advisory Mission to Maldives was carried out from 18 to 22 April 2010. The mission team comprised experts from UN-SPIDER, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the South Asian Association for Regional...
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ESA's ice mission delivers first data Tue Apr 20 2010ESA's CryoSat-2 has delivered its first data just hours after ground controllers switched on the satellite's sophisticated radar instrument for the first time. CryoSat-2 was launched on 8 April and has been performing exceptionally well during these critical first few days in orbit. Europe's first mission dedicated to studying variations in our planet's ice cover entered polar orbit just minutes...
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Ukraine to launch Sich-2 earth observation satellite in October Mon Apr 19 2010The launch of Ukraine's Sich-2 earth observation satellite has been scheduled for October 2010, the press service of the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU) has said. According to the NSAU, Dnipropetrovsk-based Pivdenne Design Bureau, which developed the 350-kilogram satellite, is currently completing the tests of the Sich-2. According to the Kosmotras international consortium, Ukraine's Sich...
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Using Satellite Imagery to assess the ash cloud after volcanic eruption - UPDATED 20/4/2010 Mon Apr 19 2010Volcanic eruption Iceland on April 15, 2010 - DLR evaluating satellite data to investigate the effects of the eruptions on the atmosphere. ZKI/DLR examines the volcano ashes in the atmosphere using several satellite sensors (NOAA-19 AVHRR, Meteosat-9, GOME-2) For all images please visit: http://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/applications/2010/island/189_en.html Source: DLR DLR Scientists...
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RapidEye Collects One Billion km² of Satellite Imagery In Just Over A Year Wed Apr 14 2010RapidEye announced today that it has imaged one billion square kilometers of the surface of the Earth since it became commercially operational on February 4, 2009. All of the data collected over the last 14 months is available in the RapidEye Library which contains multiple datasets including the freshest images imaged just a few minutes or hours earlier. The library is continuously growing as...
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UN-SPIDER provides Technical Advisory Support to Chile earthquake response Wed Apr 14 2010From 15 – 21 March UN-SPIDER Programme Coordinator, David Stevens, was in Chile at the request of the Government of Chile to follow-up on the support the programme has been providing to the response activities of the mega 8.3 magnitude earthquake that impacted the southern-central portion of the country on February 27. The UN-SPIDER SpaceAid framework within hours after the...
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7.1-magnitude quake hits China Wed Apr 14 2010About 300 people have died and 8,000 others were injured after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province early on Wednesday, a local official said. Many others are still buried under the debris of collapsed houses near the epicenter, said Huang Limin, deputy secretary-general of the government of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu. About 700 soldiers are now...
