In recent years, the frequency and severity of natural hazards has increased dramatically. This development has escalated the risk of disasters and their devastating impact on the environment and communities around the world. Earth observation (EO) data has the potential to mitigate the risks of disasters and support all phases of the disaster management cycle.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) partnered with NTT DATA Corporation, a leading digital business and IT services provider, to conduct research on space-borne LIDAR to improve 3D mapping. The research aims to “solve the technical challenges” and “improve the accuracy” of space-borne 3D mapping in order to support disaster management efforts globally.

Increasing in frequency and severity, wildfires have had a devastating impact in several areas around the world in recent years. The effects of wildfires pose a particular risk to the environment and communities in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.

A new report outlines the availability of data in humanitarian settings around the world. The 2021 edition of “The State of Open Humanitarian Data”, recently published by the Centre for Humanitarian Data of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), explores the state of the humanitarian data ecosystem and identifies gaps in data availability.

At 1.02 degrees Celsius higher than the 1951–1980 mean, Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2020 was – tied with that in 2016 – the warmest on record. This finding of a recent report by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) underlines the planet’s long-term warming trend as one of the most significant effects of climate change. “The last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record, typifying the ongoing and dramatic warming trend,” said NASA GISS Director Gavin Schmidt.

Three-dimensional (3D) representations of the Earth’s surface are essential for mapping and assessing disaster risks as well as for preparing, responding to, and preventing disasters. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a pixel-based modeled representation of the Earth’s surface, where each pixel represents an elevation value. Computers or algorithms can use a DEM as input to model or analyze 3D topography. The Copernicus DEM is an edited Digital Surface Model (DSM) which represents the surface of the Earth including buildings, infrastructure and vegetation.

Having access to precise geographical data and the ability to analyze them easily is essential for effective disaster and risk management. EUMETSAT delivers meteorological, climate and ocean data as well as analytical tools to all registered users worldwide. Recently they released three new data pilot services, which are highly valuable throughout the full disaster management cycle: EUMETSAT DATA Store, EUMETSAT Data Tailor and EUMETView.

A new publication highlights the contributions of Earth observation (EO) for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Compendium of EO contributions to the SDG Targets and Indicators was produced by the ESA-funded EO for SDGs project, in close cooperation with the GEO EO4SDG initiative and the CEOS Ad-Hoc Team on SDGs.