News
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UN-SPIDER further strengthens its role in the Asia Pacific region Tue Sep 15 2009UN-SPIDER was invited recently to participate and contribute to two major meetings in the Asia Pacific region: The first meeting was the 2nd Joint Project Team Meeting for Sentinel Asia Step 2 which brought together over 100 participants from 44 organisations from 18 countries, including new members from Central Asia and which was held in Bali, Indonesia from 15th to 17th July. Then the following...
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UN-SPIDER Expert Meeting in Central Asia Tue Sep 15 2009As a side-event to GISCA’09 UN-SPIDER co-organised the “UN-SPIDER Expert Meeting – Managing Disasters Using Space-based Information in Central Asia” in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on the 26th August. The meeting brought together 25 experts from both the geospatial community and the disaster management community, drawn from international and regional organisations, government...
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SERVIR update on recent extreme events in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean Tue Sep 15 2009SERVIR—Spanish for “To Serve”—is a Regional Visualization and Monitoring System that integrates earth observations (e.g. satellite imagery) and forecast models together with in situ data and knowledge for timely decision- making to benefit society. SERVIR is a platform for collaboration and cross-agency coordination, international partnerships, delivery services and...
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ReliefWeb: World Requirements for Emergency Response (2005-2008) Wed Sep 23 2009A new reliefweb product shows the relative scale of major emergencies since 2005 based on funding requirements for humanitarian response. Another illustration shows requirements for supporting most-affected people in major crises from January to August 2009. For more information >> ReliefWeb
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Technical Expert Meeting in Bonn Tue Sep 15 2009UN-SPIDER hosted a Technical Expert Meeting in Bonn, Germany, to further develop the “Namibian SensorWeb Pilot project on integrated flood management and water- and vector-borne disease modelling’. This meeting brought together about thirty persons, among them a delegation from the Department of Water Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture Water and Forestry (MAWF) in Namibia,...
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Free web mapping APIs for non-profit Thu Sep 3 2009ESRI announces that its popular Web mapping APIs (Javascript, Flex and Silverlight) are available at no cost to users who are building non-commercial applications. Until now only available to licensed users, UN agencies, NGOs, and educational institutions now can take advantage of fast, high-quality mapping applications built on top of ArcGIS Server for no additional cost. For further information...
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Ground receiving station to monitor disaster Thu Sep 3 2009Bidding for the construction of two ground receiver stations will be opened soon by Kamal Ewida Earth Observatory, quoted Mail & Guardian. Kamal Ewida Earth Observatory, currently seeking a site in Egypt, is a joint project by South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Egypt's National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences. The project will enable the...
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PacRICS and disaster management Thu Aug 27 2009The Government of Tonga has commissioned a dedicated PacRICS (Pacific Rural Internet Connectivity System) system to handle communications for the investigation and search and rescue effort. PacRICS is the SPC/Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid) project designed to provide affordable Internet connections to rural and remote villages using a VSAT (very small aperture terminal)...
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Guatemala: UN-SPIDER present in CONVERCIENCIA 2009 Thu Aug 27 2009UN-SPIDER was invited by the Guatemalan Council of Science and Technology to participate in CONVERCIENCIA 2009, which forms part of a strategy to promote the development of science, technology and innovation within Guatemala. On an annual basis, Guatemalan scientists working abroad are invited to conduct outreach activities in the country, network with local scientists and practitioners, deliver...
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JAXA and DLR initiated R&D Cooperation in Satellite Disaster Monitoring Mon Aug 24 2009The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) today signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) concerning Mutual cooperation for satellite disaster monitoring. In this LOI, both parties acknowledged the necessity to promote satellite application, especially Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, as well as related applied research, and to pursue such activities...
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GIS and Risk Reducion: The Case of Jamaica Fri Aug 21 2009Jamaica, based on its geographic location, topography and geology has experienced many natural hazards that oblige the government to generate new strategies to prevent those events from becoming major disasters. Recently, to better manage the physical and human environment at the local/national level before (planning, mitigation, preparedness), during (response) and after a (recovery)...
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NASA Satellites drills down on India's Vanishing Water Thu Aug 27 2009Beneath northern India’s irrigated fields and densely populated cities of Jaiphur and New Delhi, the groundwater has been disappearing. Around the world, hydrologists, including Matt Rodell of NASA, have been hunting for it. Where is northern India’s underground water supply going? According to Rodell and colleagues, it is being pumped and consumed by human activities -- principally...
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Satellite imagery shows California forest fires Mon Aug 17 2009Satellite imagery from the recently launched UK-DMC2 satellite shows forest fires in the Los Padres National Forest east of Santa Maria at 11:10 local time on the 12th August. The image was acquired by DMCii in Guildford, UK from the new UK-DMC2 earth observation satellite just 16 days after its launch into the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) on 29th July. The UK-DMC2 satellite was...
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Asia's first urban risk reduction training and education facility opens in Republic of Korea Thu Aug 27 2009The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the Government of the Republic of Korea are opening Asia's first ISDR Education and Training Institute for Urban Risk Reduction in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The ISDR Education and Training Institute for Urban Risk Reduction is the first educational and research facility in Asia for disaster risk reduction...
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Nigerian Space Agency signs MoU with Infoterra Thu Aug 27 2009A delegation of four executives of the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has recently visited INFOTERRA and signed a Memorandum of Understanding defining a roadmap for a close cooperation over the years to come. Following two optical earth observation satellites, Nigeria is now considering a radar mission. SAR data will further enable NASRDA and other satellite data...
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DubaiSat-1 successfully launched Mon Aug 10 2009Engineers were celebrating the successful launch of the UAE's first government satellite last night. DubaiSat-1 took off on a Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last night on schedule at 10.46 UAE time. Images from DubaiSat-1 can be used for a variety of applications from urban development, scientific research, telecommunications, transportation to civil engineering and...
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DigitalGlobe Launches Crisis Event Service Mon Aug 10 2009Longmont, Colorado-based DigitalGlobe (http://www.digitalglobe.com) is a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution earth imagery products and services. Recently DigitalGlobe announced its Crisis Event Service, a new web service providing timely and accurate pre- and post-event satellite imagery to aid in emergency planning, response and recovery. The new online service is designed to...
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NASA Image of Typhoon Morakot Mon Aug 10 2009Typhoon Morakot bore down on the island of Taiwan on August 7, 2009. When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image at 1:25 p.m. local time (5:25 UTC), the center of the storm was just beginning to reach the shoreline. Morakot was a Category 2 storm with winds of about 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour or 85 knots) and...
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Call for Proposals: GSDI Small Grants Program 2009-2010 Wed Aug 5 2009The Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association is pleased to announce its Small Grants Program for the year 2009-10. Summary: * Awards for spatial data infrastructure or EOS-related activities in economically disadvantaged nations, * Application deadline of 1 October 2009, * 4000 words maximum, * Awards of $2500 USD in cash and/or contributed volunteer professional services for the project...
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Seminario Internactional: "La Tecnología satelital de observación de la Tierra en la Evaluación, Monitoreo y Manejo de Desastres Naturales en la Agricultura", 23-24 Septiembre de 2009, Buenos Aires, Argentina Wed Aug 5 2009El Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnologia para el desarrollo (CYTED) en colaboración con el INTA convocan a especialistas, profesionales y técnicos usuarios de las tecnologías satelitales de observacion de la tierra a participar en el Seminario Internacional "La Tecnología satelital de observación de la Tierra en la Evaluación, Monitoreo y...
