This is event is available for participation on an ongoing basis
Floods, exacerbated by climate change, cause tremendous damage to societies around the world. They lead to loss of lives and property, displace people from their homes and destroy livelihoods, as well as they disrupt sustainable development efforts worldwide. Developing countries are particularly susceptible to the impact of floods as societies are more vulnerable and exposed, and less resilient to recover when disasters strike.
Today, 13 October, is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction!
The United Nations General Assembly has designated 13 October as the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) to promote a global culture of disaster risk reduction. The 2022 edition takes place during the Mid-term Review of the Sendai Framework, which will conclude at a High-level Meeting of the General Assembly in May 2023 with a political declaration.
Landsat 9 was successfully launched on Monday, Sept. 27, 2021 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Landsat 9 data is publicly available from USGS.
Landsat 9—a partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey— continues the Landsat program’s critical role in monitoring, understanding and managing the land resources needed to sustain human life.
On 24 November 2021, the American Space Agency NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) into the path of asteroid Dimorphos, a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles from Earth. On 26 September 2022, the Dart spacecraft intentionally crashed into Dimorphos. It was planned that this would shift the orbit of the asteroid.
On Tuesday 11 October 2022, NASA announced first results of the test, presenting that the mission has been a success. According to statements by NASA, this has been the “first time ever, humanity has changed the orbit of a planetary body.”
Together with Mitsubishi Electric, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA has developed an Earth Observation Satellite, Daichi-2, which, according to the developers, will be able to detect objects of the size of 80 centimeters.
From 26 to 30 September 2022, a UN-SPIDER expert team visited the Philippines to support the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and other organizations in strengthening their work related to Disaster Risk Management and Emergency Response by effective use of space-based information. This Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) had been requested by the Philippines Space Agency (https://philsa.gov.ph/) in close collaboration with the members of the NDRRMC.
UNOOSA is organising a webinar series in context of the World Space Week 2022 (4-10 October).
On the webinar on the 5 October "Space Benefiting the Work of the United Nations", 10-11:30am, UN-SPIDER will join the webinar, giving a presentation and taking part in the panel discussion.
Find more information about the webinar series, and links to registration pages on the website of UNOOSA.
On 9 and 10 July 2015, UN-SPIDER carried out an institutional strengthening mission to El Salvador at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aims of the mission were:
To continue the provision of advisory support to El Salvador.
The provide information to government agencies regarding COPUOS, UNOOSA and UN-SPIDER as El Salvador will be joining COPUOS as a Member State.
To present a series of maps of the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) that were elaborated by UN-SPIDER to contribute to monitor the effects of drought in the country, and to provide information on the UN-SPIDER Recommended Practice that can be used for this purpose.
The Expert Mission included several meetings with representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Environment and Natural Resources, Public Works, Public Health, and Interior. The mission was used to discuss the recommendations proposed by UN-SPIDER during its TAM in 2014; including the establishment of a national geospatial information system and an inter-institutional team of professionals which would focus its efforts the generation of space-based information in disaster risk reduction and emergency response.
During the mission, the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) agreed that the Environmental Observatory of the Ministry of Environment and Human Resources (MARN) should be the Authorised User on behalf of El Salvador to the International Charter Space and Major Disasters and other emergency mechanisms established by the space community. In addition, there was an agreement to continue efforts to implement the technical, interinstitutional remote sensing team to contribute to efforts in disaster risk reduction, preparedness and emergency response. The Department of Civil Protection was going to assess whether this team should be coordinated by the Scientific and Technical Commission of Civil Protection. Finally, the Environmental Observatory agreed to review the maps presented by UN-SPIDER to assess their accuracy in presenting up-to-date and historical information on droughts in the country.
On 9 and 10 July 2015, UN-SPIDER conducted an Expert Mission to El Salvador under the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador as a follow-up to the Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) which was conducted in April 2014. The Expert Mission included several meetings with representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Environment and Natural Resources, Public Works, Public Health, and Interior. The mission was used to discuss the recommendations proposed by UN-SPIDER during its TAM in 2014; including the establishment of a national geospatial information system and an inter-institutional team of professionals which would focus its efforts the generation of space-based information in disaster risk reduction and emergency response.
The mission was used by UN-SPIDER to present the recently developed Recommended Practice on droughts developed by the Iranian Space Agency in its role as a Regional Support Office and a series of maps elaborated by the UN-SPIDER Bonn Office regarding the Vegetation Condition Index as a way to contribute to drought early warning and drought management efforts in this country. Specific meetings were organised as part of this mission with the Directorate of Civil Protection, with the Environmental Observatory of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and with UNDP and other UN agencies in El Salvador which are conducting efforts to support the government to cope with the recent droughts that are affecting this country.
The opportunity was used to discuss ongoing efforts carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador related to the incorporation of El Salvador as a member of the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and to provide information on the activities conducted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and its Space Applications Programme.
