-
UNOOSA releases 2019 Annual Report
Jeu Juin 25 2020
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has released its 2019 Annual Report. The 2019 report focuses on building resilience and highlights many projects and initiatives that UNOOSA engaged in during the past year to advance international cooperation in outer space. Space applications provide images and information that help monitor and mitigate climate change, reduce disaster...
-
Federal University of Santa Maria joins network of UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices
Mer Juin 17 2020
The Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) has become the newest member of the network of UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices, which now consists of 24 institutions around the world. The agreement between the University and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) was signed on 27 May 2020 and is valid for three years. UFSM’s main campus is located in the city of Santa Maria,...
-
TUM and DLR launch Future Lab for Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation
Mar Juin 16 2020
The Munich Technical University (TUM) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have launched a new initiative focussing on the development of artificial intelligence technologies in Earth observations. The Future Lab “Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation: Reasoning, Uncertainties, Ethics and Beyond” (AI4EO) aims to use satellite data and Big Data analyses to create models of global...
-
ICIMOD maps floods following Cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh to support response
Mar Juin 9 2020
To support emergency response efforts, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has mapped the extent of floods in Bangladesh following Cyclone Amphan, which caused widespread damage in the country and neighboring India in mid-May. The maps are based on Sentinel-1 radar imagery. Radar satellite data is commonly used for flood mapping purposes due to its ability to...
-
UN-SPIDER conduct webinar on role of satellites for forest fire management
Lun Juin 8 2020
The head of the UN-SPIDER Bonn office and a visiting scientist from the Universidad Católica de Manizales conducted a webinar entitled “Introduction to Satellite Products and Services for the Management of Forest Fires” on 10 June. The aim of this webinar was to facilitate the use of space-based information for disaster management and emergency response, in particular to monitor and forecast...
-
UN-SPIDER webinar showcases methods to map burn severity after forest fire
Lun Juin 8 2020
At the end of April and the beginning of May 2020, Peten, the northern province or department of Guatemala, experienced severe forest fires that forced Guatemala’s National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) to request the activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters to map the geographical extent of the fires.
To support members of Guatemala’s technical,...
-
UN-SPIDER and IWMI host webinar on locust monitoring
Ven Juin 5 2020
On 12 June, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), through its UN-SPIDER programme, and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) hosted a webinar on “Space-based inputs for locust early warning and preparedness” as a commitment to promote the use of space technologies in combating a crisis that is mounting on top of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The recording of the...
-
SUPARCO maps potential desert locust habitats in Pakistan
Jeu Juin 4 2020
The Space Application Centre for Response in Emergency and Disasters (SACRED) of the Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission of Pakistan (SUPARCO), a UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office, is using space-based information to analyze areas with regards to their suitability as desert locust habitats based on vegetation, soil type and other factors. The results support surveillance and control...
-
New studies use ground-based, satellite and AI technologies to improve volcanic eruption forecasting
Mar Juin 2 2020
Most of the volcanic activities are rapidly evolving phenomena, and thus, hard for volcanologists and disaster management agencies to monitor and predict. In the last four decades, however, due to the proliferation of new and innovative instruments and techniques, scientists have made progress in forecasting the timing of many volcanic eruptions. New studies have shown that combining ground-based...
-
Space4Youth Competition 2020 launched
Mar Mai 26 2020
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) have launched the second edition of their Space4Youth competition. Under the title Space4Climate, this year's focus is on SDG 13, Climate Action. In order to participate, students and young professionals from any Member State of the United Nations are invited to submit an essay on the topic...
-
CSSTEAP analyses Sardoba dam failure
Mar Mai 19 2020
Using space-based information, the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTEAP) affiliated to the United Nations has analysed the recent failure of a dam around the Sardoba Reservoir in Uzbekistan. Following a week of heavy rain in the region, the wall of the dam broke on 1 May and flooded surroundings in Uzbekistan as well as Kazakhstan to the north....
-
New research investigates global carbon cycle from phytoplankton satellite imagery
Lun Mai 11 2020
A recent study has produced a 20-year time series of primary production by marine phytoplankton, one of the largest fluxes of carbon on our planet. Studying phytoplankton primary production is important because it provides useful information about ocean biology, climate, and global carbon cycle. Observing primary production over long-time scales or quantifying its small variations can help the...
-
IWMI and DEA partner to support water management in Africa
Lun Mai 11 2020
The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Digital Earth Africa (DEA) have partnered to develop tools and applications that will support water resource management and water security in Africa. The applications will use remote-sensing and machine learning technologies and will produce measurements that can improve the understanding of Africa’s changing landscape and provide African...
-
UNOOSA hosts webinar on Space4Health
Ven Mai 8 2020
On 14 May, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) hosted two sessions of a webinar on space applications to support global health, including to fight coronavirus.
During the 90-minute sessions, experts from UNOOSA, as well as from other international organisations, governments and private sector companies operating in the space sector discussed how space applications can...
-
GEO and UN-Habitat open call for expressions of interest to support sustainable urban development
Mer Avr 22 2020
The Group of Earth Observations (GEO) and the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) have opened a call for expression of interest for the “Earth Observation Toolkit for Sustainable Cities and Communities” programme. This programme aims to support UN Member States in sustainable urban development by creating a customizable and continually updated toolkit that will integrate Earth...
-
Copernicus Emergency Management Service monitors wildfires in Ukraine
Mar Avr 21 2020
A series of wildfires have been destroying forests and agricultural land near the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Due to concerns about the spread of these fires and the potential dispersion of smoke plumes and radioactive chemicals to nearby inhabited areas, the European Union’s Emergency Response Coordinating Centre (ERCC) requested the activation of the Copernicus Emergency...
-
World’s first weather satellite launched 60 years ago
Jeu Avr 16 2020
On 1 April 1960, NASA sent the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS-1) into space. TIROS-1 was developed during the 1950s and, after years of experimental programmes and attempts, became the world’s first weather satellite. Since weather satellites were a new technology at that time, the mission also tested various design issues for spacecraft, such as instruments, data, and...
-
New JAXA website provides hourly global measurements of precipitation
Mer Avr 15 2020
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released the JAXA Climate Rainfall Watch website to monitor extreme weather and climate over the world. The website provides hourly global measurements of precipitation as well as forecasts about heavy rainfall and drought in different temporal scales (daily, pentad, weekly, 10-days and monthly). The satellite-based global rainfall maps produce...
-
Egypt and France sign space science and technology cooperation agreement
Mar Avr 14 2020
The Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) and France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) have signed a space cooperation agreement. The agreement provides a framework for both countries to collaborate on different topics, including satellite developments, exploration of outer space, space applications, R&T, nanosatellites development and training, and the Space Climate Observatory (SCO)...
-
ESA launches COVID-19 custom script contest
Ven Avr 3 2020
The European Space Agency (ESA), in coordination with the European Commission, is launching a special edition of the Custom Script Contest, focused on the support of space assets during the COVID-19 crisis, managed by Euro Data Cube group. The contest is looking for remote sensing experts, machine learning scientists and interested public to make proposals on how satellite data can help with...
-
SERVIR produces maps to support efforts against locust outbreak in Eastern Africa
Ven Avr 3 2020
SERVIR, a joint program between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has partnered with relief organizations and the United Nations, including the Desert Locust Information System of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to produce maps that could explain locust behavior. The maps provide useful information on environmental conditions, such as soil moisture...
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has released its 2019 Annual Report. The 2019 report focuses on building resilience and highlights many projects and initiatives that UNOOSA engaged in during the past year to advance international cooperation in outer space. Space applications provide images and information that help monitor and mitigate climate change, reduce disaster...
The Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) has become the newest member of the network of UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices, which now consists of 24 institutions around the world. The agreement between the University and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) was signed on 27 May 2020 and is valid for three years. UFSM’s main campus is located in the city of Santa Maria,...
The Munich Technical University (TUM) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have launched a new initiative focussing on the development of artificial intelligence technologies in Earth observations. The Future Lab “Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation: Reasoning, Uncertainties, Ethics and Beyond” (AI4EO) aims to use satellite data and Big Data analyses to create models of global...
To support emergency response efforts, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has mapped the extent of floods in Bangladesh following Cyclone Amphan, which caused widespread damage in the country and neighboring India in mid-May. The maps are based on Sentinel-1 radar imagery. Radar satellite data is commonly used for flood mapping purposes due to its ability to...
The head of the UN-SPIDER Bonn office and a visiting scientist from the Universidad Católica de Manizales conducted a webinar entitled “Introduction to Satellite Products and Services for the Management of Forest Fires” on 10 June. The aim of this webinar was to facilitate the use of space-based information for disaster management and emergency response, in particular to monitor and forecast...
At the end of April and the beginning of May 2020, Peten, the northern province or department of Guatemala, experienced severe forest fires that forced Guatemala’s National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) to request the activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters to map the geographical extent of the fires. To support members of Guatemala’s technical,...
On 12 June, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), through its UN-SPIDER programme, and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) hosted a webinar on “Space-based inputs for locust early warning and preparedness” as a commitment to promote the use of space technologies in combating a crisis that is mounting on top of the COVID-19 pandemic. The recording of the...
The Space Application Centre for Response in Emergency and Disasters (SACRED) of the Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission of Pakistan (SUPARCO), a UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office, is using space-based information to analyze areas with regards to their suitability as desert locust habitats based on vegetation, soil type and other factors. The results support surveillance and control...
Most of the volcanic activities are rapidly evolving phenomena, and thus, hard for volcanologists and disaster management agencies to monitor and predict. In the last four decades, however, due to the proliferation of new and innovative instruments and techniques, scientists have made progress in forecasting the timing of many volcanic eruptions. New studies have shown that combining ground-based...
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) have launched the second edition of their Space4Youth competition. Under the title Space4Climate, this year's focus is on SDG 13, Climate Action. In order to participate, students and young professionals from any Member State of the United Nations are invited to submit an essay on the topic...
Using space-based information, the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTEAP) affiliated to the United Nations has analysed the recent failure of a dam around the Sardoba Reservoir in Uzbekistan. Following a week of heavy rain in the region, the wall of the dam broke on 1 May and flooded surroundings in Uzbekistan as well as Kazakhstan to the north....
A recent study has produced a 20-year time series of primary production by marine phytoplankton, one of the largest fluxes of carbon on our planet. Studying phytoplankton primary production is important because it provides useful information about ocean biology, climate, and global carbon cycle. Observing primary production over long-time scales or quantifying its small variations can help the...
The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Digital Earth Africa (DEA) have partnered to develop tools and applications that will support water resource management and water security in Africa. The applications will use remote-sensing and machine learning technologies and will produce measurements that can improve the understanding of Africa’s changing landscape and provide African...
On 14 May, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) hosted two sessions of a webinar on space applications to support global health, including to fight coronavirus. During the 90-minute sessions, experts from UNOOSA, as well as from other international organisations, governments and private sector companies operating in the space sector discussed how space applications can...
The Group of Earth Observations (GEO) and the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) have opened a call for expression of interest for the “Earth Observation Toolkit for Sustainable Cities and Communities” programme. This programme aims to support UN Member States in sustainable urban development by creating a customizable and continually updated toolkit that will integrate Earth...
A series of wildfires have been destroying forests and agricultural land near the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Due to concerns about the spread of these fires and the potential dispersion of smoke plumes and radioactive chemicals to nearby inhabited areas, the European Union’s Emergency Response Coordinating Centre (ERCC) requested the activation of the Copernicus Emergency...
On 1 April 1960, NASA sent the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS-1) into space. TIROS-1 was developed during the 1950s and, after years of experimental programmes and attempts, became the world’s first weather satellite. Since weather satellites were a new technology at that time, the mission also tested various design issues for spacecraft, such as instruments, data, and...
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released the JAXA Climate Rainfall Watch website to monitor extreme weather and climate over the world. The website provides hourly global measurements of precipitation as well as forecasts about heavy rainfall and drought in different temporal scales (daily, pentad, weekly, 10-days and monthly). The satellite-based global rainfall maps produce...
The Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) and France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) have signed a space cooperation agreement. The agreement provides a framework for both countries to collaborate on different topics, including satellite developments, exploration of outer space, space applications, R&T, nanosatellites development and training, and the Space Climate Observatory (SCO)...
The European Space Agency (ESA), in coordination with the European Commission, is launching a special edition of the Custom Script Contest, focused on the support of space assets during the COVID-19 crisis, managed by Euro Data Cube group. The contest is looking for remote sensing experts, machine learning scientists and interested public to make proposals on how satellite data can help with...
SERVIR, a joint program between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has partnered with relief organizations and the United Nations, including the Desert Locust Information System of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to produce maps that could explain locust behavior. The maps provide useful information on environmental conditions, such as soil moisture...
Twitter
