Syrian Arab Republic

Turkey and Syria recently experienced two devastating earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and closely followed by a magnitude 7.5, resulting in extensive damage and destruction. The International Charter 'Space and Major Disasters' was activated by Turkish authorities, the United Nations, and the International Federation Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies in response to the earthquakes. The Charter provided more than 350 crisis images from 17 space agencies worldwide, which were used to create damage and situation maps to estimate the hazard impact and support relief actions. The Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service (CEMS), which has a cooperation agreement for sharing data and collaborating with the Charter, has also been activated. The service, which has a collaboration agreement for data sharing and working with the Charter, also employs observations from several satellites to deliver on-demand mapping.

Satellite data is proving to be invaluable for emergency aid...

UN Mappers calls all mappers to support the Turkish Open Street Map community following the earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday 6 February.

Together with Copernicus and the International Charter activation, UN Mappers has also been activated. The community has organised a "mapathon", that will be held live on Friday 10 February from 15:00 to 17:00 CET, although mappers are invited to continue the activity over the weekend.

Click here for more information on the event. Registration is already open!

A major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Turkey with epicentre on 23 kilometres east of Nurdagi (Gaziantep Province) on February 6, 2023. By the activity spreading to adjacent faults, the region was hit by a 6.7- magnitude and a 7.5- magnitude aftershocks respectively. The earthquake also affected neighbouring Syria.

The space community is also taking action through the activation of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters. The charter provides a mechanism for the provision of satellite data to support the relief efforts of disaster-stricken areas. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) has also been activated to provide support to the affected countries.

The use of space-based information can greatly assist in disaster response efforts. Satellites can provide detailed images and maps of the affected area to help search and rescue teams identify areas in need of assistance. They can also provide information on the extent of the damage,...

What if we crowdsourced satellite imagery analysis of key cities in Syria to identify evidence of mass human rights violations? This is precisely the question that my colleagues at Amnesty International USA’s Science for Human Rights Program asked me following this pilot project I coordinated for Somalia. AI-USA has done similar work in the past with their Eyes on Darfur project, which I blogged about here in 2008. But using micro-tasking with backend triangulation to crowdsource the analysis of high resolution satellite imagery for human rights purposes is definitely breaking new ground.

A staggering amount of new satellite imagery is produced every day; millions of square kilometers’ worth according to one knowledgeable colleague. This is a big data problem that needs mass human intervention until the software can catch up. I recently spoke with Professor Ryan Engstrom, the Director of the Spatial Analysis Lab at George Washington University, and he confirmed...

General Organization for Remote Sensing (GORS)

Contact

General Organization for Remote Sensing (GORS)

Tel. + 963 11 2218700

Email: gors [at] mail.sy

Address:

P.O. Box 12586

Damascus,

Syrian Arab Republic