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Facebook expands its population density maps to the Asia-Pacific region
Mar Juil 16 2019
Facebook has published new population density maps covering most of the African continent and countries of the Asia-Pacific region in June 2019. Using artificial intelligence (AI), these maps help organizations to respond to natural disasters, and scientists to assess the impact of climate change and urbanization on people’s lives. As soon as almost the entire world population is covered by the...
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IMF releases report on building disaster resilience in small and low-income countries
Ven Juil 12 2019
Small and low-income countries can be disproportionately affected by natural disasters. For example, the top ten natural disasters between 1980 and 2017, in terms of greatest damage as a percentage of GDP, occurred in small and low-income countries, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its June 2019 policy paper, “Building Resilience in Developing Countries Vulnerable to Large...
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Study discusses use of space technology for detecting infrastructure instability
Lun Juil 8 2019
Evaluating the safety and integrity of infrastructure such as bridges, which is often done through hands-on inspections, may soon be possible with the help of information captured several kilometers above the Earth’s surface. According to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) news article, scientists from NASA, the University of Bath, and the Italian Space Agency used historical...
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Tropical Cyclones stalling along the North Atlantic coast lead to more rain in the confined location
Jeu Juil 4 2019
According to a new study by scientists from NASA and NOAA, tropical cyclones stall more frequently and stay longer near the coastline. This potentially leads to more precipitation over confined locations and thus an aggravation of tropical cyclone hazards for coastal populations.
In the new study, scientists Hall and Kossin examined all tropical cyclones from 1944-2017 in the National Hurricane...
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Recent study presents new assessment method for rare floods risks
Jeu Juil 4 2019
A recent study, published in the Water Resource Research journal, presents a new method for a spatially realistic national flood risk assessment.
Researchers expanded an existing statistical model, based on U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) river flow data, to simulate a thousand years of potential flood events. By calculating the damage for each event in dollars, they were able to estimate the...
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Flooding affected more people in 2018 than any other disaster type report shows
Lun Juil 1 2019
In the past year, “there were 315 natural disaster events recorded with 11,804 deaths, over 68 million people affected, and US$131.7 billion in economic losses around the world.” This is according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in its recently released 2018 Natural Disasters Report.
While these 2018 natural disaster values represent a decrease when compared...
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NOAA's upgrade of its Global Forecast System expected to enhance weather forecasts in the USA
Jeu Juin 27 2019
In June 2019, NOAA upgraded its flagship weather model, the Global Forecast System (GFS), with a new dynamic core, called Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere Dynamical Core (FV3). This upgrade of the GFS will enhance global numerical weather forecasting and better forecast precipitation, heavy rainfall and weather types at both regional and global level. Besides, the FV3-based GFS revealed improvements in...
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UNOOSA launches 2018 Annual Report
Ven Juin 21 2019
In its recently released 2018 Annual Report, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) provides an overview of the many projects and initiatives it engaged in during the past year to advance international cooperation in outer space.
As one of the highlights, UNOOSA organized and hosted the UNISPACE+50 symposium in Vienna in June 2018 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the...
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Canadian RADARSAT Constellation Mission to support disaster relief efforts
Ven Juin 21 2019
On 12 June 2019, a trio of identical Canadian Earth observation satellites, which will help monitor climate change and save lives during natural disasters, among other applications, were successfully launched into space from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The satellites, collectively referred to as the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RAM), follow the legacy of over two decades of Canadian RADARSAT...
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Applications open for UN-SPIDER Bonn International Conference “Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management in Africa: Challenges, Applications, Partnerships”
Mar Juin 18 2019
The importance of using space technologies in the disaster management process has received growing global recognition in recent years. For example, the African Union outlined in its 2017 African Space Policy that among other things, space represents a unique opportunity for cooperation in using and sharing infrastructure and data to proactively respond to and manage natural hazards and disasters...
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9th annual meeting of UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices opens in Vienna
Mar Juin 18 2019
Representatives from the network of UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices (RSO) convene in Vienna for the 9th Annual RSO Coordination Meeting from 18 to 19 June. Held at the United Nations Offices in Vienna, the meeting provides the 23 RSOs the opportunity to propose concrete ways in which they, respectively, could further collaborate with UN-SPIDER and also with other RSOs. The event is a forum for...
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UNOOSA signs cooperation agreement with the University of Bonn to help Member States leverage space-based information in all phases of disaster management
Mar Juin 18 2019
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Bonn, Germany, that paves the way for joint activities to support Member States in using space-based information in all phases of disaster management over the next five years.
Natural and man-made disasters lead to loss of lives and property, displace people from their homes and...
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UN-SPIDER highlights role of Earth observation in understanding exposure of urban infrastructure to hazards at Resilient Infrastructure Forum
Jeu Juin 6 2019
Under the annual theme "Towards A Safer Urban Future", the 2nd Resilient Infrastructure Forum took place in Colombia from 4 to 6 June 2019. The Forum aimed to develop a coordinated long-term strategy to overcome challenges posed by disasters, such as severe storms, tsunamis or earthquakes in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the event, UN-SPIDER underlined the benefits of space-based...
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Review article discusses using remote sensing-based proxies to improve urban disaster risk management and resilience
Ven Mai 31 2019
Remote sensing, or obtaining information about the Earth’s surface from afar using satellites or high altitude aircraft, is an important tool for predicting, mitigating, and managing disasters. To obtain a more comprehensive view of the conditions on Earth, remote sensing analysts must often look beyond information that can be immediately extracted from satellite imagery, for example, and use...
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German Aerospace Centre and Leipniz Supercomputing Centre team up to improve Earth observation data analysis
Ven Mai 31 2019
Data generated by Earth observation satellites can provide critical insights for disaster mitigation and management by revealing changes in the Earth’s surface over time. However, the great volume and different types of satellite data collected can pose challenges for evaluation. A new partnership between one of Europe’s largest supercomputing centres, the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ), and...
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Italy uses Sentinel-1 satellite data to monitor sinking ground surfaces
Jeu Mai 30 2019
The lowering or sinking of the ground’s surface, referred to as land subsidence, can cause serious damage to infrastructure and private property, and in turn, have an adverse impact on communities, individuals, and the economy. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-1 satellite, part of the Copernicus programme, is being used to monitor cases of land subsidence and contribute to risk...
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Images from Canada’s first Earth observation satellite made available to the public
Ven Mai 24 2019
The Canadian Space Agency and the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation have released 36,500 RADARSAT-1 images, which are available at no cost on the Government of Canada’s Earth Observation Data Management System. Having aided relief operations in 244 disaster events through the images it captured, the Canadian RADARSAT-1 satellite now has the opportunity to reach a broad pool of...
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Second Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference calls for strengthening early warning efforts to meet challenges posed by a changing climate
Jeu Mai 23 2019
Held on 13 and 14 May in Geneva, the Second Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference (MHEWC-II) called for further strengthening of multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) as part of disaster risk reduction efforts worldwide. At the event, more than 320 participants from all regions of the world and affiliated to international, regional, national and local public sector, civil society, private...
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Indian Space Research Organization launches satellite to support disaster management efforts
Mer Mai 22 2019
Building upon a history of successful Earth observation satellite launches, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) sent its RISAT-2B radar imaging satellite into orbit on 22 May 2019. Launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, the satellite has the capacity to benefit the disaster management, agriculture, and forestry sectors by capturing detailed images of the...
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Earth observation practitioners gather in Milan to discuss latest Copernicus applications
Mar Mai 21 2019
A one-week-long event brought together scientists and users to present their latest findings on the Earth’s environment and climate derived from satellite data. Organized by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Living Planet Symposium also introduced ESA missions – such as the Sentinels, Earth Explorers and meteorological missions – as well as national missions in development.
The event took...
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New publication highlights innovation disaster risk reduction products and approaches
Jeu Mai 16 2019
A new publication presents 30 innovation products and approaches for disaster risk reduction, ranging from GIS and remote sensing to community-based disaster risk reduction and indigenous DRR technology. “30 Innovations for DRR” has been published by a group of experts from Keio University, the University of Tokyo, the United Nations University, CWS Japan and IRIDeS of Tohoku University. The...
Facebook has published new population density maps covering most of the African continent and countries of the Asia-Pacific region in June 2019. Using artificial intelligence (AI), these maps help organizations to respond to natural disasters, and scientists to assess the impact of climate change and urbanization on people’s lives. As soon as almost the entire world population is covered by the...
Small and low-income countries can be disproportionately affected by natural disasters. For example, the top ten natural disasters between 1980 and 2017, in terms of greatest damage as a percentage of GDP, occurred in small and low-income countries, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its June 2019 policy paper, “Building Resilience in Developing Countries Vulnerable to Large...
Evaluating the safety and integrity of infrastructure such as bridges, which is often done through hands-on inspections, may soon be possible with the help of information captured several kilometers above the Earth’s surface. According to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) news article, scientists from NASA, the University of Bath, and the Italian Space Agency used historical...
According to a new study by scientists from NASA and NOAA, tropical cyclones stall more frequently and stay longer near the coastline. This potentially leads to more precipitation over confined locations and thus an aggravation of tropical cyclone hazards for coastal populations. In the new study, scientists Hall and Kossin examined all tropical cyclones from 1944-2017 in the National Hurricane...
A recent study, published in the Water Resource Research journal, presents a new method for a spatially realistic national flood risk assessment. Researchers expanded an existing statistical model, based on U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) river flow data, to simulate a thousand years of potential flood events. By calculating the damage for each event in dollars, they were able to estimate the...
In the past year, “there were 315 natural disaster events recorded with 11,804 deaths, over 68 million people affected, and US$131.7 billion in economic losses around the world.” This is according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in its recently released 2018 Natural Disasters Report. While these 2018 natural disaster values represent a decrease when compared...
In June 2019, NOAA upgraded its flagship weather model, the Global Forecast System (GFS), with a new dynamic core, called Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere Dynamical Core (FV3). This upgrade of the GFS will enhance global numerical weather forecasting and better forecast precipitation, heavy rainfall and weather types at both regional and global level. Besides, the FV3-based GFS revealed improvements in...
In its recently released 2018 Annual Report, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) provides an overview of the many projects and initiatives it engaged in during the past year to advance international cooperation in outer space. As one of the highlights, UNOOSA organized and hosted the UNISPACE+50 symposium in Vienna in June 2018 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the...
On 12 June 2019, a trio of identical Canadian Earth observation satellites, which will help monitor climate change and save lives during natural disasters, among other applications, were successfully launched into space from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellites, collectively referred to as the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RAM), follow the legacy of over two decades of Canadian RADARSAT...
The importance of using space technologies in the disaster management process has received growing global recognition in recent years. For example, the African Union outlined in its 2017 African Space Policy that among other things, space represents a unique opportunity for cooperation in using and sharing infrastructure and data to proactively respond to and manage natural hazards and disasters...
Representatives from the network of UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices (RSO) convene in Vienna for the 9th Annual RSO Coordination Meeting from 18 to 19 June. Held at the United Nations Offices in Vienna, the meeting provides the 23 RSOs the opportunity to propose concrete ways in which they, respectively, could further collaborate with UN-SPIDER and also with other RSOs. The event is a forum for...
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Bonn, Germany, that paves the way for joint activities to support Member States in using space-based information in all phases of disaster management over the next five years. Natural and man-made disasters lead to loss of lives and property, displace people from their homes and...
Under the annual theme "Towards A Safer Urban Future", the 2nd Resilient Infrastructure Forum took place in Colombia from 4 to 6 June 2019. The Forum aimed to develop a coordinated long-term strategy to overcome challenges posed by disasters, such as severe storms, tsunamis or earthquakes in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the event, UN-SPIDER underlined the benefits of space-based...
Remote sensing, or obtaining information about the Earth’s surface from afar using satellites or high altitude aircraft, is an important tool for predicting, mitigating, and managing disasters. To obtain a more comprehensive view of the conditions on Earth, remote sensing analysts must often look beyond information that can be immediately extracted from satellite imagery, for example, and use...
Data generated by Earth observation satellites can provide critical insights for disaster mitigation and management by revealing changes in the Earth’s surface over time. However, the great volume and different types of satellite data collected can pose challenges for evaluation. A new partnership between one of Europe’s largest supercomputing centres, the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ), and...
The lowering or sinking of the ground’s surface, referred to as land subsidence, can cause serious damage to infrastructure and private property, and in turn, have an adverse impact on communities, individuals, and the economy. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-1 satellite, part of the Copernicus programme, is being used to monitor cases of land subsidence and contribute to risk...
The Canadian Space Agency and the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation have released 36,500 RADARSAT-1 images, which are available at no cost on the Government of Canada’s Earth Observation Data Management System. Having aided relief operations in 244 disaster events through the images it captured, the Canadian RADARSAT-1 satellite now has the opportunity to reach a broad pool of...
Held on 13 and 14 May in Geneva, the Second Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference (MHEWC-II) called for further strengthening of multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) as part of disaster risk reduction efforts worldwide. At the event, more than 320 participants from all regions of the world and affiliated to international, regional, national and local public sector, civil society, private...
Building upon a history of successful Earth observation satellite launches, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) sent its RISAT-2B radar imaging satellite into orbit on 22 May 2019. Launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, the satellite has the capacity to benefit the disaster management, agriculture, and forestry sectors by capturing detailed images of the...
A one-week-long event brought together scientists and users to present their latest findings on the Earth’s environment and climate derived from satellite data. Organized by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Living Planet Symposium also introduced ESA missions – such as the Sentinels, Earth Explorers and meteorological missions – as well as national missions in development. The event took...
A new publication presents 30 innovation products and approaches for disaster risk reduction, ranging from GIS and remote sensing to community-based disaster risk reduction and indigenous DRR technology. “30 Innovations for DRR” has been published by a group of experts from Keio University, the University of Tokyo, the United Nations University, CWS Japan and IRIDeS of Tohoku University. The...
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