Somalia

country taxonomy block

Aerospace Information Research Institute of China tracks locust swarm dynamics and losses

At the end of 2019, countries in the Horn of Africa began to suffer the impacts of locust swarms. Later, the locust migrated to regions in Southwest Asia. Unfortunately, the impacts on farmers are devastating. Furthermore, the combined impact of these locust plague and COVID-19 is having a toll of the livelihoods of many farmers in these regions. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has indicated that 42 million people are facing severe acute food insecurity because of this plague.

Since the end of 2019, the Aerospace Information Research Institute (ARI) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has been tracking the temporal and geospatial dynamics of the locust plague in the Horn of Africa, Eastern Africa, the Middle East and Southwest Asia. To track this plague, experts from the Vegetation Remote Sensing & Pest and Disease Application Research Team of ARI developed the Vegetation Pests and Diseases…

Publishing date 13/08/2020

Satellite data supports UN anticipatory humanitarian action in Bangladesh

In the latest example of anticipatory humanitarian action, the United Nations released $5.2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help communities in Bangladesh prepare themselves ahead of major monsoon floods. The allocation of funds to agencies in the country to prepare to deliver support was triggered by a forecast from the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS), which predicted areas having a greater than 50 per cent chance of experiencing a severe flood between 14 and 16 July. Following a second forecast by the Government’s Flood Forecasting… more

Publishing date 21/07/2020

International Charter activation for flood in Somalia

Homes flooded after river Shabelle ran over in Belet Weyne Capital City of Hiran, Somalia. Image: Ahmed Qeys.

The International Charter Space and Major Disasters has been activated for flooding in Somalia on 7 May, caused by weeks of heavy rainfall.

The rainwater has caused the Shabelle and Juba rivers to run over and flood parts of HirShabelle, Jubbaland and South West state. As a result, more than 200,000 people had to be evacuated and emergency settlements are being built up for the victims. However, limited access to clean water might increase infections of water-borne diseases.

The activation has been requested by UNITAR-UNOSAT on behalf of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Publishing date 11/05/2018

Drought declared a national disaster in Somalia

Evaporative stress index in the Horn of Africa. Image courtesy of NASA.

Somalia’s president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo declared the current drought as a national disaster at the Drought Committee meeting in Mogadishu on 28 February 2017. The country’s Prime Minister added that at least 110 people have died from starvation in the past 48 hours. The drought has been partly caused by the El Niño phenomenon in east and southern Africa and also by the lack of rain during recent years. Domestic animals are dying in large numbers and there are more than 6 million people facing food insecurity. Some humanitarian groups fear a full-blown famine to come. In addition to the lack of food, there are also many cases of dehydration. Dozens of deaths caused by cholera have been reported, as there is no clean drinking water. The full impact of the drought on the country is yet still unknown.

Publishing date 07/03/2017

MEA: multi-product data exploitation system with global data coverage since 1978

The Multi-sensor Evolution Analysis (MEA) platform supports Earth Observation communities in loading, visualizing and analysing multi-dimensional datasets. Implemented in the framework of the European Space Agency ASIM project, MEA has been recently adopted in the European Commission EarthServer initiative as graphic user interface of the Climate Data Service. MEA is a multi-product satellite data management and exploitation system that allows its users to access to a wide set of satellite-based data (e.g. vegetation indexes, soil moisture, precipitation) and display the temporal evolution of these fields to identify long term trends as well as short term / abrupt changes. The global coverage as well as…

Publishing date 19/11/2013

Somalia affected by unusual tropical cyclone

Tropical Cyclone 3A is just the fifth storm to strike the country since 1966

Somalia experienced one of the deadliest tropical cyclones in its history when on November 10–11, 2013, Tropical Cyclone 3A moved over Puntland causing flash floods that according to news reports left more than 100 dead and destroyed hundreds of homes as well as thousands of livestock. It was estimated that Tropical Cyclone 3A would dump 100-200 millimeters (4-8 inches) of rain, with potentially higher amounts in some regions, which results impressive given that the average annual rainfall in Puntland ranges from less than 100 mm (4 inches) to 200 mm (8 inches).

Tropical Cyclone 3A is just the fifth storm to strike Somalia since 1966, fact that states how rare are cyclones in this country. With winds of 74 kilometers (46 miles) per hour, Tropical Cyclone 3A can be observed in images captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

Publishing date 14/11/2013