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UN assisting Chile in aftermath of massive quake; including provision of satellite phones Tue Mar 2 2010Authorities in Chile have issued a request for supplies, including mobile bridges, satellite telephones, electric generators, water purification systems and dialysis centers. The United Nations is sending several satellite phones to Chile for officials coordinating earthquake relief efforts and is prepared to send 30 tons of food and other aid if the government gives the green light, the top...
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RapidEye Delivers Satellite Images of Chile's Damaged City of Concepción Mon Mar 1 2010The images cover a total area of 13,125 km² and show the most damaged area around the city of Concepción. They were taken on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at around 11:00 a.m. local time, only a few hours after the earthquake hit the area at 3:34 a.m. in the morning local time. In order to be able to run change detection analyses, RapidEye also has images available of the very same...
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A Massive Earthquake hits Chile Mon Mar 1 2010An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of central Chile early morning on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 3:34 a.m. local time, about 200 miles southwest of the Chilean capital of Santiago, killing several hundred people and exposing millions of people to strong shaking that toppled many buildings. The quake damaged houses, bridges and highways in Santiago, the capital, though a few...
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First images from ESA’s water mission Fri Feb 26 2010In less than four months since launch, the first calibrated images are being delivered by ESA’s SMOS mission. These images of 'brightness temperature' translate into clear information on global variations of soil moisture and ocean salinity to advance our understanding of the water cycle. Launched on 2 November, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission is improving our...
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ESA highlights the potential of satellite data for the European Investment Bank Fri Feb 26 2010The European Investment Bank has an annual lending portfolio of around 75 billion euros, operating globally in more than 130 countries. The Bank has been increasingly mainstreaming environmental considerations into its lending portfolio, boosting the need to monitor the impact of the projects it funds. As its environmental commitments have increased, so too has the demand for geospatial...
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Space agencies of Ukraine and Germany discuss cooperation in data exchange in remote Earth-sensing Wed Feb 24 2010NSAU experts and specialists of space industry enterprises of Ukraine paid a working visit to German Aerospace Centre (DLR), leading research institutes and companies of the space spectrum of Germany in the framework of Twinning Space project within Feb.1 – Feb.6, 2010 in order to define further perspectives of bilateral cooperation. In course of the visit Ukrainian delegation became...
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United Nations University and ESRI to Collaborate on GIS Research and Training Wed Feb 24 2010ESRI and United Nations University (UNU) recently approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the university’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. They will collaborate on research, create Centers of Excellence, promote the exchange of graduate students, and provide geographic information system (GIS) training opportunities within and by UNU. “This agreement will promote enhanced...
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UN-SPIDER Regional Workshop "Building upon Regional Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response for Africa" 25-28 May 2010, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tue Feb 23 2010UN-SPIDER cordially invites you to join the UN-SPIDER Regional Workshop "Building upon Regional Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response for Africa" to take place from 25 to 28 May 2010 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This workshop, which is being organised together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and supported by the Government of Austria,...
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Sri Lanka to utilize space based technology for disaster management Fri Feb 19 2010Sri Lanka is to hold a training workshop for the people involved in disaster management to learn how to utilize the WEB-GIS technology and space based technology to support disaster management activity. Sri Lanka will hold the 5th Sentinel Asia System Operation Training in Colombo from 22nd to 26th February 2010 with technical support from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).Sentinel...
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RADARSAT-2 Improvements to Enhance Earth Observation Applications and Utilizations Tue Feb 16 2010RADARSAT-2’s revolutionary design enables the satellite flexibility to be up-dated, reconfigured and additional beam modes added to accommodate the world’s ever changing needs. Since its launch in 2007, the following up-dates have been made: 1, The Licence for RADARSAT-2 restrictions on beam mode resolution were relaxed, with the beam modes now matching the full resolution of the...
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Two new UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices established in Pakistan and Ukraine Sun Feb 14 2010The network of Regional Support Offices (RSO) supporting the work of the UN-SPIDER Programme has two new members: the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) of Pakistan and the Space Research Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the National Space Agency of Ukraine (SRI NASU-NSAU). Representatives of both institutions signed cooperation agreements with...
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UN-SPIDER appears on German ARD TV network programme covering Haiti earthquake Wed Feb 10 2010On 7 February 2010, UN-SPIDER appeared in the “W wie Wissen” educational programme run by the German ARD TV network. The entire show zoomed in on the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010, leaving a trail of utter destruction and devastation in its wake. National governments, military and nongovernmental organizations rushed the humanitarian assistance to Port...
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Satellite Observations Help Assess Future Earthquake Risk in Haiti Thu Feb 11 2010According to the new data, the earthquake rupture did not reach the surface which is unusual for an earthquake this size. More importantly, the images confirm that only the western half of the fault segment that last ruptured in 1751 actually ruptured in the current earthquake. “We’re still waiting for the other shoe to drop,” says Tim Dixon, professor of geology and geophysics...
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SpaceAid bolsters Emergency Response in Haiti Mon Feb 8 2010The UN-SPIDER SpaceAid framework was triggered on 12 January 2010 for the devastating earthquake of magnitude 7 that struck Haiti. The massive damage to the local infrastructure in Haiti has made satellite images and maps vital to assess damage and plan the relief work. Those images can be used by humanitarian relief workers on the ground to for example identify accessible roads and suitable...
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Technical Advisory Mission in the Dominican Republic Thu Feb 4 20104 February 2010 – From 26 to 29 January, 2010, a Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) was conducted in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The goal of the mission was to assess the capacity of a variety of institutions to access and to use space-based information for disaster-risk management and emergency response and to identify institutional needs. The mission focused on four main topics:...
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TerraSAR-X image of the month: Movements of the Earth's crust in Haiti during the earthquake of 12 January 2010 Wed Feb 3 2010The image shows movements in the Earth's crust caused by the earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010. The colour scale shows the extent of the displacements, from green for small displacements to deep red for movements of two metres. The red-coloured area north of the Enriquillo fault zone (red line) was displaced by about 80 centimetres during the earthquake, in the direction of the oblique radar...
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UN-SPIDER mission to India Tue Feb 2 20101 February 2010 - The workshop on "Space Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction" at the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) of India took place from 11 to 13 January 2010. It was organized with support from UN-SPIDER. Although India is well-known for its space technology and applications, the need to assess its use in disaster management was articulated specifically by the...
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DLR scientists support relief workers in Haiti earthquake disaster Wed Feb 3 2010Following the devastating earthquake on Haiti, relief organisations require rapid, reliable and meaningful information on the local situation, the state of the infrastructure and the extent of the damage for their deployment in the disaster zone. In this context, scientists from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) are giving important support by...
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NASA Radar Captures its First Haiti Image Tue Feb 2 2010JPL’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) captured a false-color composite image of the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the surrounding region on Jan. 27, 2010. Port-au-Prince is visible near the center of the image. The large dark line running east-west near the city is the main airport. UAVSAR left NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards,...
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Catastrophe prevention: Algeria, UN agree on space pictures use Fri Jan 29 2010Deputy Minister for Maghreb and African affairs, Abdelkader Messahel, said Thursday (January 28, 2010) in Addis Ababa that an Agreement between Algeria and the United Nations Office has been signed for the opening of a regional supporting office for North Africa and the Sahel (UN-SPIDER). The agreement, signed with the Office’s Space Affairs Bureau, will facilitate the development and...
