Back to back with the “United Nations International Conference on Space‐based Technologies for Disaster Management”, the UN-SPIDER Beijing office organized an interactive training session in Beijing, China from 21 to 22 October 2013. The aim was to strengthen the capacity of the National Disaster Reduction Centre of China (NDRCC) to effectively embed Space technologies in their activities.
Capacity Building Programme on Space technology for Flood & Drought Risk Mapping and Assessment
The training programme was led by experts of UN-SPIDER, Delta University (United States), the Asia-Pacific Regional Office of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the University of Twente (Netherlands), the International Water Management Institute and the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
25 participants took part in the course: Mid-level managers and technical staff of agencies involved in disaster management and hazard mapping, disaster related education, infrastructure development, disaster forecasting and warning provider, disaster response, natural resource management. Participants came both from member countries of APSCO (Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization) and country partners of UN‐SPIDER.
The course focused on disaster risk assessment (especially flood and drought), relief needs assessment, situation analysis, early warning systems, and international standards related to disaster prevention and mitigation. The objective of the training was to strengthen the capacity of the national agencies to use geospatial technologies for flood and drought management. It provided an insight on the use of satellite images and spatial information in flood and drought risk management by providing hands‐on training on using spatial data for risk mapping, flood modelling and rapid mapping (damage assessment). Thus, the training demonstrated the use of space based information in the entire cycle of flood management. The participants benefited from the experience sharing by experts from the centres of excellence, demonstration of the best practices in various countries and practical sessions on the software tools. The full programme is available here.
