January 2009

                                                  UN-SPIDER January 2009 Updates
In this issue:

UN-SPIDER News

• UN-SPIDER Provides Technical Advisory Support to Namibia
• UN-SPIDER Stakeholders to Meet at COPUOUS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee
• Applications of SPOT Imagery for Disaster Response
• International Recovery Platform Launches New Website
• Two New Satellites to be Added to Disaster Monitoring Constellation
• Rise in Extreme Weather Events Fuelling Demand for UN Disaster Management Expertise
• Death Toll from Disasters Surged in 2008, UN Reports
• Construction of Chinese Version of "Google Earth" Launched
• New Disasters Earth Observation Monitoring Initiative in Canada: Assessment and Mitigation of Active Geohazard Sites

Conferences and Workshops

• “Map World Forum” in Hyderabad, India, 10-13 February 2009
• 1st International Workshop on "Validation of Earthquake precursors by Satellite and Terrestrial Observations (VESTO)" in Chiba University, Japan, 26-28 March 2009
• CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: CIESIN Workshop on “Geospatial Analysis for Attaining the Millennium Development Goals” in Bonn, Germany, April 2009
• “5th GRSS/ISPRS workshop on Data Fusion and Remote Sensing over Urban Areas (URBAN 2009)” in Shanghai, China, 20-22 May 2009
• First International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Regional Meeting/Symposium in Yaounde, Cameroon from 22-23 May, 2009
• 2nd Regional Workshop of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) Support for Decision-Making in the Coastal Zone: “Strengthening Observing Systems Capacity for Managing and Mitigating the Impacts of Human Activities and Coastal Inundation in the African Region” in Accra, Ghana, 2-7 August 2009
• CALL FOR PAPERS: 3rd Central Asia GIS Conference - GISCA’09, “GIScience for Environmental and Emergency Management in Central Asia”, in BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN, 27-28 August , 2009
• “Processing and Classification of Satellite Imagery” Thematic Session within the VipIMAGE2009 – II ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Computational Vision and Medical Image Processing in Porto, Portugal, 14-16 October 2009

Upcoming UN-SPIDER Outreach Activities

• United Nations International UN-SPIDER Workshop: "Promoting the Use of Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response" in Vienna, Austria, 2-4 June 2009
• Third United Nations International UN-SPIDER Bonn Workshop: "From Concepts to Application" in Bonn, Germany, 21-23 October 2009
• UN-SPIDER Regional Workshop "Building Upon Regional Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response for Africa" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (December 2009)
• UN-SPIDER Regional Workshop "Promoting the Use of Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response in Latin America" in Ecuador (second half of 2009)
• “6th UN-wide Meeting on the Use of Space Technologies for Emergency Response and Humanitarian Assistance” in New York, USA (second half of 2009)

Upcoming Events Supported by UN-SPIDER

• II Escuela de Primavera sobre Soluciones Espaciales para el Manejo de Desastres Naturales y Respuestas de Emergencias (UN-SPIDER/GEOSS Spring School, Argentina)
• Organized by UN-SPIDER/GEOSS/CONAE/CRECTEALC (October 2009)
• 3rd Central Asia GIS Conference - GISCA’09, “GIScience for Environmental and