February 2009

                                                     UN-SPIDER February 2009 Updates

In this issue:

UN-SPIDER News

• UN-SPIDER conducts Technical Advisory Mission and training in Namibia
• United Nations COPUOS S&T Subcommittee satisfied with UN-SPIDER 2008 progress and 2010-2011 workplan
• “Map World Forum” in Hyderabad, India, 10-13 February 2009
• “First Session of the Regional Platform for Disaster Reduction in the Americas”
• “Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction”, First Session, in Bangkok, Thailand, 25-27 March 2009
• UN-SPIDER contributes to GEO 2009-2011 Workplan
• CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: “JBGIS Best Practices Booklet on Geo-information for Risk and Disaster Management”
• News from the Space & Disaster Management Community:
• World Bank installs early warning system at Lake Suarez, Tajikistan
• NOAA satellites helped rescue 283 people in 2008
• NASA study predicted outbreak of deadly virus
• Irish government to receive satellite detection service in handling oil spill
• Satellite built by Indian university to be launched in ISRO’s next flight
• China plans to launch third ocean survey satellite in 2010
• Improving emergency response through interoperable mobile satellite communications
• Satellite images show devastation from Australian fires and floods
• Scots raise funds for fire suppression from space
• Google Earth fills its watery gaps
• United Nations Secretary General to receive satellite phone call on climate change observations from Mt. Kilimanjaro climbers

• “16th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WCDEM)” in Victoria, Canada, 12-15 May 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, 22-23 May 2009
• “Second Regional Workshop of the GEOSS Support for Decision-Making in the Coastal Zone” 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

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

• 3rd Central Asia GIS Conference - GISCA'09, "GIScience for Environmental and Emergency Management in Central Asia" in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 27-28 August 2009
• 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)