On 21 and 22 May 2024, the Royal Centre for Remote Sensing (CRTS) of the Kingdom of Morocco, UN-SPIDER, and the International Charter Space and Major Disasters organized a training course on the use of space-based information in case of disasters. The training course, organized with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Centre for Space Studies of France (CNES), and SERTIT, targeted more than 30 participants from CRTS and other government agencies and universities of Morocco.
The training course was held on the premises of CRTS and included presentations on the use of geospatial and space-based information in case of disaster response by CRTS, on the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, the procedures employed in its activations, and on the use of the Charter Mapper.
The experts from CRTS gave an introduction to the use of remote sensing in disaster management applications and presented examples of maps elaborated by CRTS in case of floods, earthquakes, and other types of events.
In addition, the expert provided an overview of the International Charter and its activations since it was launched in the year 2,000. The experts from SERTIT made participants aware of the procedures required for the activation of the Charter in case of disasters, the roles of the Authorised User, Project Managers and Value-Added Providers; and introduced them to the Charter Operating System version 2 (COS-2) that is used for this purpose. They also gave participants an overview regarding links between the International Charter and the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. The expert from ESA-PLES introduced participants to the Charter Mapper, presenting information on its layout, unique features, and the tools that have been incorporated to process satellite imagery in case of different types of hazards. The training course included a hands-on segment where participants were able to use the Charter Mapper to process satellite imagery in case of floods and earthquakes.
The training course is a contribution to the efforts made by the Ministry of Interior, CRTS, and other government agencies of Morocco to become an Authorised User of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters.
