Spain

Satellite archives information combined with a new cloud computing platform offer early warning of landslides. An example of this is Carmenes del Mar resort, in the south coast of Spain, that suffered from landslides leaving homes destructed. Combining radar images from various satellites, a team of Spanish researches from the group Analisis del Relieve y Procesos Activos (ARPA) could detect motion of less than a centimeter per year.

Minimal shifts are highlighted in rainbow-like patterns when consecutive radar images of the same site are combined. Traditionally the detection of imperceptible changes was particularly complex requiring a longer period of time. Now it is possible to use new computing services supported by ESA which allow easier and faster use of satellite information.

The online... read more

The Copernicus Emergency Management Service was activated by the Spanish Civil Protection Authorities on July 9 after two different fires strongly affected the South of Spain since the beginning of July.

As explained in the Copernicus website, on July 5 a forest fire began in the municipality of Quesada in Jaén province and then spread to neighbouring municipalities. A second forest fire started on July 8 in the area of Lujar in Granada province. The fire reached other municipalities, including Rubite, Gualchos-Castell de Ferro, Órgiva, and Motril.

The Copernicus Emergency Management Service has provided both "Delineation maps" (maps showing the extent of the forest fires) and "Grading maps" (maps showing the damages... read more

Indra agreed with the European Space Agency (ESA) the definition of the requirements for the system that will manage the Spanish satellite Ingenio. The technological company leads the development, implementation and start-up of the ground segment for the future Spanish ground-based optical observation satellite, which will be ready to enter into service in 2015. With this important milestone, Indra, along with the consortium, firmly undertakes the review of the preliminary design for the second half of the year. Indra has been awarded a contract to lead the project by the Ministry of Industry and became responsible for the integration, installation, testing and start-up of the ground segments for the two satellites in the Spanish National... read more

The IEEE Geoscience and ... read more

Uno de los principales objetivos de estas Jornadas es el fortalecimiento de las capacidades a nivel Técnico Municipal para los responsables de la toma de decisiones a nivel local y responsables técnicos de la planificación, desarrollo, gestión de riesgos y coordinación de la respuesta ante potenciales desastres para, conjuntamente, diseñar e implementar planes y programas más efectivos para la reducción de riesgos de desastres, y consecuentemente, para un incremento gradual de la resiliencia en las comunidades que representan. Al mismo tiempo es también uno de los principales objetivos de esta Jornada la transmisión de conocimientos y habilidades para formar nuevos formadores que puedan luego expandir el conocimiento y la información en sus respectivas comunidades para la mejora constante de la Resiliencia en el archipiélago Canario.