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The space activities are very peculiar in their capacity of stemming growth and competitiveness and in their continental dimension are a strategic asset for peaceful competition and defense in troubled epoch. For these reasons, the Lisbon treaty define Space as a shared policy of the European Union, in some way a strategic asset for a global power.

At local scale, other peculiar capacities of space emerges, the dual faced development of sophisticated supply side and the stimulus of a modern, mostly but not only, public, demand side.

The term “Rocket Science” is not casual, in the last 50 years space systems have been at the heart of innovation race, leading to the development of a healthy industry ranging from advanced materials to informatics. Nevertheless as stimulating as the supply side is, the power of space service is no less fascinating.

The big question is, “how to harmonize the multiples dimensions of Space?”
To try to answer this question, the Puglia Region Aerospace Cluster (DTA) invited the European network of space regions (NEREUS), ESA, ASI, CNES and other 300 representatives to meet in Bari for the International Conference “Space4You – Space, a Driver for Competitiveness and Growth”. Read more:

China’s first test satellite for detecting electromagnetic anomalies from space will launch in 2016 in a move that is aimed at improving the country’s earthquake monitoring network and moving its seismological science forward.

Yuan Shigeng, project manager for the satellite, said the polar-orbiting device will carry eight payloads, including a search-oil magnetometer, electric field detector, energetic particle sensors designed by China and Italy, and a Langmiur probe and plasma analyzer.

The satellite will collect and transmit data on electromagnetic signals in the Earth’s ionosphere at altitudes of 507 km.

During its mission life of five years, the satellite will collect and supply data for research on earthquake monitoring, earth science and space science.

The China Earthquake Administration will be the main client for the satellite.

Shen Xuhui, a professor at the institute of earthquake science at the CEA, said the satellite’s detection capabilities include large-scale, highly dynamic, multi-parameter and all-weather features, which will be important for the current ground monitoring network.

Scientists hope any major breakthrough in the research will help them understand earthquakes better so lives can be saved.

“Through these data, we try to understand what natural warnings, such as changes in electromagnetic signals, are indicating prior to earthquakes,” Shen said.

China experienced 43 earthquakes of above magnitude-5.0 last year, twice the annual number over the past three decades, that claimed thousands of lives, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Earthquakes are a sudden release of energy caused by the sliding of the Earth’s crust along fault lines, and changes to fluorescent, infrared and magnetic signals can be detected in advance.

China’s latest project started in 2003 and its test satellite is now in the preliminary design stage. Shen has been involved in the project from the start.

“Among the many signals that nature may provide before earthquakes occur, we’ve chosen magnetic ones because we are technically and economically ready,” Shen said.

Roberto Battiston, a professor at the University of Trento in Italy, said that studying magnetic and electric fields is a wise choice for earthquake science.

Over the last 30 years, various studies have suggested a link between seismic activity and the precipitation of energetic electrons trapped in the Van Allen Belts, Battiston said.

Studies suggest that strong seismic activity often causes electromagnetic anomalies in the Earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere, aiding the monitoring and prediction of earthquakes.

Battiston said the collaboration between Italy and China is “extremely effective” and he looks forward to the first data from China’s electromagnetic satellite.

Seismologists in China have been working with other countries including France, Italy, Russia and Ukraine that have their own advantages in seismo-electromagnetic research.

Battiston said earthquakes are a global phenomenon, and the development of techniques to mitigate their damage will greatly benefit from international collaboration.

With the successful launch of the satellite, China will join a select group of nations that have their own earthquake monitoring satellites, which could broaden international collaboration in the field.

Dimitar Ouzounov, a professor of earth sciences at Chapman University in California, also spoke highly of China’s project, saying it “provides an excellent opportunity to advance the well-integrated space-ground system in earthquake monitoring in the near future in China”.

China’s satellite mission could become the focal point for future international cooperation among many scientists in space physics, electromagnetic observation and satellite methodologies for earthquake monitoring and warnings, the professor said.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

6 May 2014 (14:00-17:00) Charlemagne Building, 170 rue de la Loi, B-1040 Brussels

The European Commission is pleased to invite you to the outreach event Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation: Key Messages from IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report and Implications for Policy and Decision Making. During the half day event high level representatives from the IPCC will provide key note speeches and present key messages from the AR5 WG II IPCC Working Group II Report (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability), to be approved at the 38th Session of the IPCC, in Yokohama, Japan, on 25-29 March 2014 and WG III IPCC Working Group III Report (Mitigation of Climate Change), to be approved at the 39th Session of the IPCC in Berlin, Germany, on 7-11 April 2014 Reports.

The event will bring together policy makers, key stakeholders from the private sector, civil society representatives, scientists and advisors to discuss climate change adaptation and mitigation challenges, as well as opportunities for the future.

The Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Ms Máire Geoghegan-Quinn will officially open the event. This will be followed by a high-level panel discussion. Panel members will include Commissioner for Climate Action, Ms Connie Hedegaard, the Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Ms Kristalina Georgieva, and representatives from the business sector and experts from international organisations.

For more information please visit our web announcement

For registration click HERE

Events Spring 2014


Start Date End Date Event Web Venue
01-apr-14 04-apr-14 3rd International Conference on the Use of Space Technology for Water Management web Rabat, Morocco
02-apr-14 04-apr-14 Forest Change 2014 web Freising, Germany
04-apr-14 04-apr-14 Food and Agriculture Futures: Response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) web London, United Kingdom
03-apr-14 04-apr-14 Network Analysis using GIS web Newcastle, U.K.
04-apr-14 04-apr-14 Food and Agriculture Futures: Response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) web London, United Kingdom
07-apr-14 08-apr-14 GIS for the United Nations and the International Community Conference web Geneva, Switzerland
07-apr-14 10-apr-14 Second International Conference on Remote Sensing and Geo-information of Environment, RSCy2014 web Paphos, Cyprus,
08-apr-14 08-apr-14 Climate Change Adaptation: Highlighting Environmental Science, Law and Policy web London, UK
08-apr-14 09-apr-14 CIWEM’s annual conference – Water and environment 2014 web London, UK
08-apr-14 09-apr-14 GeoMaritime web London, UK
09-apr-14 10-apr-14 Copernicus User Awareness & Training Event
Copernicus User Awareness & Training Event
web Tallinn, Estonia
09-apr-14 10-apr-14 AeroSpace Days web Paris, France
10-apr-14 11-apr-14 International Conference on Applied Science “Earth Remote Sensing Tools and Technologies in Science, Education and Business” web Saint-Petersburg, Russia
14-apr-14 16-apr-14 Wavelength 2014 web Great Malvern, United Kingdom
14-apr-14 17-apr-14 GISWORX 2014 web Dubai, Abu Dhabi
14-apr-14 17-apr-14 European Navigation Conference – ENC-GNSS 2014 web Rotterdam, The Netherlands
14-apr-14 17-apr-14 Geoint web Tampa, Florida
22-apr-14 24-apr-14 5th International Workshop on Remote Sensing of Vegetation Fluorescence web Paris, France
23-apr-14 24-apr-14 AIDF Water Security Summit: Asia 2014 web Bangkok, Thailand
25-apr-14 27-apr-14 Munich Satellite Navigation Summit web Munich, Germany
27-apr-14 02-may-14 EGU General Assembly 2014 web Vienna, Austria
27-apr-14 29-apr-14 Intergeo Eurasia 2014 web Istanbul, Turkey
27-apr-14 02-may-14 EGU General Assembly 2014 web Vienna, Austria
28-apr-14 29-apr-14 Small Water Systems Conference web London, UK
29-apr-14 30-apr-14 ARTES Applications workshop (IAP) web Luxemburg, Luxemburg
04-may-14 12-may-14 Space App Camp 2014 web Noordwijk, The Netherlands
05-may-14 07-may-14 IWGGMS-10 – 10th International Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Measurements from space web Noordwijk, The Netherlands
05-may-14 08-may-14 IOSC 2014 – International Oil Spill Conference web Savannah, USA
05-may-14 09-may-14 6th Geospatial World Forum web Geneva, Switzerland
05-may-14 09-may-14 II International conference “Geoinformation Sciences and Environmental Development: New Approaches, Methods, Technologies” (GeoiD 2014) web Limassol, Cyprus
06-may-14 06-may-14 Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation: Key Messages from IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report and Implications for Policy and Decision Making web Brussels, Belgium
07-may-14 07-may-14 ICERE 2014 – International Conference on Environment and Renewable Energy web Paris, France
08-may-14 08-may-14 UK-Earth Observation Advisory Committee town meeting 2014 web Harwell, Oxfordshire, UK
12-may-14 12-may-14 Seventh International Conference on Waste Management and the Environment web Ancona, Italy
12-may-14 13-may-14 Copernicus Conference – Sentinels Serving Society and the Environment web Athens, Greece
12-may-14 15-may-14 9th Annual International Symposium on Environment web Athens, Greece
12-may-14 16-may-14 ECSA54 – Coastal systems under change: tuning assessment and management tools web Sesimbra, Portugal
14-may-14 14-may-14 Nereus: Space Policy/Industry dialogue in Bavaria/Munich web Munich, Germany
14-may-14 16-may-14 CEM 2014 – 11th International Conference & Exhibition on Emissions Monitoring web Istanbul, Turkey
14-may-14 16-may-14 Environmental Impact 2014 web Ancona, Italy
15-may-14 16-may-14 Baltic Applied Astroinformatics and Space data Processing web Ventspils, Latvia
15-may-14 17-may-14 EUROGEO 2014 – The Power of Geography and the Role of Spatial Information web Valetta, Malta
19-may-14 2o-may-14 European Maritime Day web Bremen, Germany
20-may-14 22-may-14 Sentinel-2 for Science Workshop web Frascati, Italy
21-may-14 23-may-14 Remote Sensing Summer School (SplitRS 2014) web Split, Croatia
21-may-14 24-may-14 5th International Conference on Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA 2014) web Thessaloniki, Greece
22-may-14 23-may-14 Symposium: Remote Sensing for Conservation – ZSL 2014 web London, UK
23-may-14 20-july-14 Exhibition: Spaceship Earth: Observing Our Planet From Satellites web Sydney, Australia
25-may-14 30-may-14 First International Summit on Tornadoes and Climate Change web Chaina, Crete, Greece
26-may-14 27-may-14 UAS event web Madrid, Spain
26-may-14 28-may-14 Water Pollution 2014 – 12th International conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Water Pollution web Alvor, Portugal
26-may-14 30-may-14 Fourth International Conference on Earth Observations for sustainable Development and Security GEO-UA 2014 web Kiev, Ucrania
26-may-14 30-may-14 Fourth International Conference on Earth Observations for sustainable Development and Security web Kiev, Ukraine
27-may-14 28-may-14 DG CONNECT & ETSI Workshop on Smart M2M Appliances web Brussels, Belgium
28-may-14 29-may-14 20th International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment web Algarve, Portugal
28-may-14 29-may-14 GEO Business 2014 web London, U.K.
02-jun-14 04-jun-14 GLAC 2014-Global Space Applications Conference web Paris, France
02-jun-14 04-jun-14 Ecological Basis of Risk Analysis for Marine Ecosystems web Beijing, China
02-jun-14 06-jun-14 10th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar web Berlin, Germany
02-jun-14 06-jun-14 Global Space Applications Conference web Paris, France
03-jun-14 03-jun-14 Renewable energy in European regions: best practices web Lyon, France
03-jun-14 03-jun-14 Developing the market for earth observation services : what are the economic perspectives and the opportunities for job creation? web Brussels, Belgium
03-jun-14 04-jun-14 Oil and Gas Cyber Security web Oslo, Norway
03-jun-14 04-jun-14 Global Connected Aircraft Summit web Long Beach, CA, USA
03-jun-14 05-jun-14 GEOSummit 2014 web Berne, Switzerland
03-jun-14 06-jun-14 AGILE 204 web Castellon, Spain
04-jun-14 05-jun-14 Technology for All web Roma, Italy
05-jun-14 06-jun-14 United Nations/Germany Expert Meeting on Space Technologies for Flood and Drought Risk Management web Bonn, Germany
10-jun-14 11-jun-14 Smarter Cities 2014 web Vienna, Austria
10-jun-14 12-jun-14 Adaptation Strategies to Global Environmental Change in the Mediterranean City – The role of Global Earth Observations web Athens, Greece
10-jun-14 13-jun-14 Border Management & Technologies Summit web Istanbul, Turkey
11-jun-14 13-jun-14 European Space Solutions-Discover what Space brings to your life web Prague, Czech Republic
12-jun-14 12-jun-14 Digital Society and Satellite Applications web Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
12-jun-14 12-jun-14 8th GEO European Projects Workshop web Athens, Greece
16-jun-14 20-jun-14 ICC&GIS Conference 2014 web Riviera, Bulgaria
16-jun-14 20-jun-14 INSPIRE Conference 2014 web tbc,Denmark
16-jun-14 20-jun-14 EARSeL 34th Annual Symposium web Warsaw, Poland
16-jun-14 21-jun-14 5th Jubilee International Conference on Cartography & GIS & Seminar with EU cooperation on Early Warning and Disaster/Crisis Management web Riviera, Bulgaria
17-jun-14 26-jun-14 14th INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIFIC GEOCONFERENCE & EXPO SGEM2014 web Albena, Bulgaria
18-jun-14 20-jun-14 FRIAR 2014 – 4th International Conference on Flood Recovery, Innovation and Response web Poznan, Poland
19-jun-14 19-jun-14 Space Conference-Space applications for Belgium web Brussels, Belgium
19-jun-14 20-jun-14 MyOcean2 User Workshop web Lisbon, Portugal
20-jun-14 21-jun-14 2nd SPACE Conference web Orlando, Florida, USA
22-jun-14 22-jun-14 Pre-conference event by UN-SPIDER and GFDRR at 6th AMCDRR web Bangkok, Thailand
24-jun-14 24-jun-14 Geospatial Intelligence for Maritime Operations 2014 web London, UK
24-jun-14 25-jun-14 UAV Payloads 2014 web London, UK
25-jun-14 25-jun-14 EARSC 25th Anniversary web Brussels, Belgium
26-jun-14 26-jun-14 EARSC AGM web Brussels, Belgium
25-jun-14 27-jun-14 Space and Security Conference web Athens, Greece
27-jun-14 28-jun-14 Sixth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts and Responses web Reykjavik, Iceland
30-jun-14 02-jul-14 Toulouse Space Show 2014 web Toulouse, France
01-jul-14 04-jul-14 GI_Forum 2014 – Geospatial Innovation for Society web Salzburg, Austria
01-jul-14 07-jul-14 AfricaGEO 2014 web Cape Town, South Africa
02-jul-14 02-jul-14 International Information Day for the second Horizon 2020 Space Call web Toulouse, France
03-jul-14 04-jul-14 Coastal Risks: Hazards, Stakes, Representations, Management web Brest, France
05-jul-14 06-jul-14 SpaceUp web London, UK
06-jul-14 12-jul-14 European Summer School on the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change web Venice, Italy
07-jul-14 09-jul-14 Air Pollution 2014 web Opatija, Croatia
07-jul-14 09-jul-14 2-d International Exhibition “Earth Remote Sensing 2014” web Saint-Petersburg, Russia
08-jul-14 08-jul-14 REACH FOR THE STARS“Bringing Space-based Opportunities for Young People down to Earth web Brussels, Belgium
13-jul-14 18-jul-14 IGARSS 2014 – 35th Symposium on Remote Sensing web Quebec, Canada
15-jul-14 17-jul-14 FOSS4G Europe Conference 2014 web Bremen, Germany
17-jul-14 17-jul-14 The future for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) – Strategic Insights web London, UK
21-jul-14 23-jul-14 Joint Experiment for Crop Assessment and Monitoring (JECAM) Science Meeting 2014 web Ontario, Canada
02-aug-14 10-aug-14 40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly web Moscow, Russia
04-aug-14 14-aug-14 Earth Observation Summer School – Earth System Monitoring and Modelling web Frascati, Italy
19-aug-14 20-aug-14 2014 International Conference on Civil, Urban and Environmental Engineering (CUEE2014) web Beijing, China
24-aug-14 28-aug-14 IDRC Davos 2014: 5th International disaster and risk conference web Davos, Switzerland
25-aug-14 27-aug-14 Third Nordic international conference on climate change adaptation web Denmark, Copenhagen
30-aug-14 07-sep-14 White Sea Student Workshop on optics of coastal waters web Primorskiy, Russia
02-sep-14 05-sep-14 Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Conference 2014 web Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, U.K.
06-sep-14 14-sep-14 European Space Expo web Ljubljana, Slovenia
08-sep-14 11-sep-14 Geomapplica web Skiathos Island, Greece
08-sep-14 12-sep-14 5th ESA Advanced Training Course on Land Remote Sensing 2014 web Valencia, Spain
11-sep-14 12-sep-14 6th Summit on the Earth Observation Business (SEOB) web Paris, France
11-sep-14 13-sep-14 International Conference Water resources and wetlands 2014 (WRW2014) web Tulcea, Romania
15-sep-14 16-sep-14 3rd International Space Research Conference web Rome, Italy
15-sep-14 17-sep-14 United Nations International Conference on Space-based Technologies for Disaster Management “Multi-hazard Disaster Risk Assessment” web Beijing, China
15-sep-14 19-sep-14 IAEG XII Congress web Torino, Italy
16-sep-14 17-sep-14 Workshop on novel mission concepts for snow and Cryosphere research web Noordwijk, the Netherlands
16-sep-14 18-sep-14 ICFM6 – 6th international conference on flood management web São Paulo, Brazil
18-sep-14 23-sep-14 United Nations International Conference on Space-based Technologies for Disaster Management “Multi-hazard Disaster Risk Assessment” web Beijing, China
20-sep-14 21-sep-14 SpaceUp web Toulouse, France
20-sep-14 27-sep-14 ISSI Autumn School on Data Assimilation in Biogeochemical Cycles web Trieste, Italy
20-sep-14 27-sep-14 9th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES) web Venice, Italy
22-sep-14 24-sep-14 MyOcean Science Days – 3rd Edition web Toulouse, France
22-sep-14 24-sep-14 SPIE Remote Sensing 2014 web Amsterdam, The Netherlands
22-sep-14 25-sep-14 SPIE 2014 web Dresden, Germany
22-sep-14 26-sep-14 EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference web Geneva, Switzerland
24-sep-14 25-sep-14 International Workshop on using Remote Sensing and GIS for Monitoring of Habitat Quality web Viena, Austria
24-sep-14 26-sep-14 Deltas in times of climate change II web Rotterdam, The Netherlands
25-sep-14 25-sep-14 Horizon 2020 EO Services. EARSC Networking Event web Belgium, Brussels
26-sep-14 26-sep-14 DG-RTD event web Belgium, Brussels
28-sep-14 28-sep-14 SpaceUp web Adelaide, Australia
01-oct-14 03-oct-14 Information for Meeting Africa’s Agricultural Transformation and Food Security Goals web Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
03-oct-14 05-oct-14 [GRMSE2014] 2nd Annual International Conference on Geo-Informatics in Resource Management & Sustainable Ecosystem web Michigan, USA
03-oct-14 05-oct-14 Global Environment, Stakeholders’ Profile and Corporate Governance in Geodesy web Zagreb, Croatia
05-oct-14 08-oct-14 Global Risk Forum GRF Davos, from thoughts to Action web Davos, Switzerland
08-oct-14 09-oct-14 imaGIne-2 CONFERENCE web Berlin, Germany
07-oct-14 09-oct-14 INTERGEO 2014 web Berlin, Germany
07-oct-14 07-oct-14 OPEN DAYS 2014 Workshop “SPACE4REGIONS”: Satellite solutions as a driver for innovation and growth web Brussels, Belgium
13-oct-14 14-oct-14 Space days 2014, Space value on Earth web Brussels, Belgium
13-oct-14 17-oct-14 Climate Research and Earth Observations from Space: Climate Information for Decision Making web Darmstadt, Germany
13-oct-14 17-oct-14 Radar 2014 web Lille, France
14-oct-14 16-oct-14 9th International Soil Science Congress on The Soul of Soil and Civilization web Antalya, Turkey
17-oct-14 20-oct-14 Mathematical Morphology in Geosciences and Geoinformatics web New Delhi, India
23-oct-14 24-oct-14 8th Coastal Altimetry Workshop web Lake Constance, Germany
27-oct-14 31-oct-14 10th International Conference of the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE) web Johannesburg, South Africa
28-oct-14 30-oct-14 7th EuroGOOS conference web Lisbon, Portugal
28-oct-14 31-oct-14 Earth Observation for Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions Science web Frascati, Italy
03-nov-14 05-nov-14 Trimble Dimensions 2014 web Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.
04-nov-14 07-nov-14 2014 ForestSAT conference web Riva del Garda (TN), Italy
05-nov-14 06-nov-14 WWEM 2014 web Telford, UK
05-nov-14 07-nov-14 NCGG7 – Seventh International Symposium on Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases web Amsterdam, The Netherlands
09-nov-14 11-nov-14 2nd annual geo-empower middle east summit web Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
12-nov-14 14-nov-14 Conference on Big Data from Space (BiDS ’14) – Research, Technology and Innovation (RT&I) web Frascati, Italy
19-nov-14 19-nov-14 2nd EARSC certification workshop web Brussels, Belgium
20-nov-14 21-nov-14 Blue Economy and Geoinformation Services for Sustainable Growth in Coastal Regions web Bari, Italy
25-nov-14 28-nov-14 5th International GOCE User Workshop web Paris, France
04-dec-14 04-dec-14 Geodata 2014, London web London, UK
19-jan-15 21-jan-15 DGI2015 web London, UK
20-jan-15 21-jan-15 Global Workshop on Spatial Data and Map web Valletta, Malta
26-jan-15 30-jan-15 POLInSAR 2015 web Frascati, Italy
27-jan-15 30-jan-15 1st BIOMASS Science Workshop web Frascati, Italy
11-may-15 15-may-15 International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE) web Berlin, Germany
20-may-15 23-may-15 International Conference on Civil and Environmental Engineering (ICOCEE – Cappadocia 2015) web Nevsehir, Turkey
25-may-15 29-may-15 http://www.smos2015.info/ web Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain
22-jun-15 02-jul-15 26th International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics general assembly web Prague, Czech Republic
09-sep-15 11-sep-15 ICE Coastal Management web -, The Netherlands

Eomag launched 09April2014

Map of rainfalls during Sandy
TRMM rainfall maps will also be included in the new portal. Here a map showing intensity of rainfalls during Hurricane Sandy
Credits: SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce

(March 27, 2014) The White House is currently working with NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and different technology companies to create a website and database with information on how climate change affects public health and infrastructure in the United States.

The site will pull data from the 10,000 data sets now available on the official data portal Data.Gov. The Beta version will display data on flooding and coastal flooding.

John Podesta, a senior advisor to the president, according to the website Guardian Liberty Voice, said that this new site will shed better light on the costs of inaction on climate change.

The website data.gov/climate will offer different tools for the end user, for example to calculate the effects of storm surges, rainfalls and floods in different regions in the United States. The Administration hopes not just to inform the citizens but also enable them to be more pro-active.

Read more Guardian Liberty Voice
Source

(27 March, 2014) In 2003, 2007 and 2013, Sudan was particularly harshly affected by flash floods that displaced hundreds of thousands of people. In order to better prepare and warn farmers of flood events, they need access to real-time information and they need to be able to exchange and apply the information.

To fill this gap, the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) recently completed research on the potential use of satellite data in flood-based farming in Sudan. The project is support by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The target of the project is to provide operational flood mapping services and the development of a flood forecasting system. Via Smart ICT (e.g. cell-phones backed up by the web), farmers and relevant authorities will be better informed on flood data for their respective decision making processes.

The flood forecasting tool will use the Hydrological Modeling System and River Analysis System provided by the US Army’s Hydrologic Engineering Center. Additionally, the tool will use data on soil and land cover, and water flow.

Read more CGIAR
Source

Within the framework of its collaboration with the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) – host to one of UN-SPIDER’s Regional Support Offices – has mapped potential locust reproduction zones in the South of Algeria and the North-East of Mauritania. The experts analyzed the ecological conditions of the migratory locust for the period between 18 January and 3 February 2014.

This activity was carried out at the request of the National Institute of Protection of Vegetation (INPV), which is in charge of fighting the locust infestation at the national level.

Thirteen satellite images with medium resolution (22 m), supplied by the British Disaster Monitoring Constellation UK-DMC-2, were processed for the maps. These images covered a total area of 935 671 square km in the South of Algeria (Wilayas of Illizi, Tamanrasset, Adrar and Tindouf) and the North-East of Mauritania. The medium resolution images allowed with good accuracy the identification of zones showing high chlorophyll levels. High chlorophyll levels indicate favorable conditions for the locust to reproduce, thus representing a high risk for the insects’ infestation to increase. Locust infestations are a great threat to local and regional agricultural production.

The analysis of the satellite images allowed to identify the following potential reproduction zones:

  • In the North-East of Mauritania (Zone 1), the region of Bir Moghrein shows medium chlorophyll levels, mainly running along the Oueds (riverbeds).
  • In the South of Algeria (Zone 2), particularly the Wilaya of Illizi, the plant cover along the Oueds (riverbeds) shows low to medium chlorophyll activity.

This new analysis of the potential reproduction zones using satellite images is provided by ASAL to INPV as basic document to help them in their prevention activities in the concerned zones of Algeria and their adjacent regions. The INPV’s conclusions will also be shared with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

Read more Regional Support Office ASAL
Source

(28 March, 2014) The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Philippines wants to finish up the mapping process of all flood prone zones in the country by 2016.

DOST Secretary Mario Montejo reported that the department’s Disaster Risk and Exposure Assessment for Mitigation Project is going well and 18 major river basins have been mapped already. The project aims to produce high-resolution 3D maps of flood prone areas with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology.

The project will help develop better evacuation strategies in case of floods for residents in flood prone areas.

Read more GMA Network
Source

(Indonesia recently launched InAWARE, an advanced hazard early warning and monitoring system in order to enhance its emergency response capacities.

The system was developed by Indonesia’s national Disaster management agency (BNPB) and supported by the United States Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.

The website FutureGov elaborates: “InAWARE is based on the Pacific Disaster Centre’s (PDC) DisasterAWARE platform which consolidates hazard information and alerts from various national and international sources. The system also facilitates information sharing within and between Indonesia’s national and provincial disaster management stakeholder agencies to help government authorities arrive at well-informed decisions during times of natural calamities.”

Read more FutureGov
Source

(April2, 2014) China, the Republic of Korea and Japan decided to form a joint research project to make Disaster data and terminology more compatible across the region. Representatives agreed to establish national focal points to support work progress.

After the three-day “Expert Meeting on Disaster Loss and Disaster Risk Reduction Technology Sharing for North-East Asia” the countries asserted in their declaration the importance of disaster statistics and their integration into decision making process.

The forum made several recommendations including: the establishment of a working group to define and categorize disasters under a common terminology; exploring the possibility of a disaster data repository; and the compilation of a reference guide on procedures and protocols pertaining to collection, processing, analyzing and disseminating disaster statistics. UNISDR and other institutions from the region were asked to support the future work in this area.

Read more at UNISDR
Source