Data from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) revealed extraordinary flooding in Sri Lanka caused by unusually strong monsoonal rainfall over the period 31 May - 4 June 2014, as research at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) shows.
Recognizing geospatial information as an essential resource that supports the economic, social and environmental interests, the Survey Department of Sri Lanka has recently received a Cabinet approval to build the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The goal is to provide and integrate geographically-referenced data and make it easily accessible in a user-friendly online portal.
During the recent CEO’s Forum on Space Technology Applications for National Development in Sri Lanka, India’s National Remote Sensing Centre Deputy Director Dr. P.G. Diwakar highlighted the important impact that satellite technologies have in various sectors of development in India. This includes agriculture, transport, navigation, environmental protection, resource mapping, meteorology, disaster management and surveying. He named India as a success story in applying such technologies to development processes.
Sri Lanka is a country affected by a variety of hazards including Drought, Flood, Mass Movement, Severe Storm or Tsunami. In order to make information on disaster risks in Sri Lanka more easily available, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) in partnership with UNDP, NGOs and GDFRR Labs launched the Sri Lanka Disaster Risk Information Platform (RiskInfo).
Sri Lanka's first communication satellite will be taken to orbit on November 22, 2012 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China and it will be positioned over Sri Lanka. The launch will take place around 9:30 p.m. local time and the satellite will be positioned above the country in the Geo-Stationary orbit at 87.5 degrees East in just seven minutes. The Sri Lanka Board of Investment (BOI) earlier this year entered into a partnership agreement with SupremeSAT (Pvt) Ltd. to launch its own communication satellite at a cost of US$ 320 million.
UN-SPIDER celebrates the International Day for Disaster Reduction
Short title:
UN-SPIDER celebrates Day for Disaster Reduction
English
UN-SPIDER strives to enable countries to improve their Disaster Risk Reduction practices using space-based information and related geospatial information.
From 14 to 17 of August 2012, UN-SPIDER conducted the Capacity Building Programme “Space Technology for Improving Hazard Mapping in Sri Lanka”, as a follow-up to the Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) that took place in Sri Lanka in October 2011. The expert team had enlisted in their TAM report a number of recommendations to the Government to strengthen disaster management using space-based information. One of the most important recommendations was to improve the capacity of national agencies in understanding the advances in space technology and its applications in hazard mapping.
The United Nations began its work in Sri Lanka in 1952 making it one of the first countries in the world to have a UN development programme. Three years later, on 14th December 1955, Sri Lanka was admitted as a member state of the UN. The UN is in Sri Lanka by explicit agreement with the government. The UN, in partnership with the government and people of Sri Lanka, works to ensure that all Sri Lankan people enjoy better living conditions.
The Survey Department of Sri Lanka is the National Surveying and Mapping Organisation and also the national focal point of GIS and Remote Sensing with representation in the Global Mapping Project organised by the International Steering Committee for Global Mapping (ISCGM). Its mission is to provide high quality land information products and services through professionally qualified and dedicated personal.
Twitter
