News
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7.6 Earthquake strikes Costa Rica Thu Sep 6 2012The coast of Costa Rica was struck on 5 September 2012 at 08:42 a.m. local time by a major earthquake with the epicenter located in the Nicoya Península. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) indicated a magnitude of 7.6. on the Richter scale. The epicenter is located very close to the surface, approximately in a depth of 10 kilometres. A tsunami warning was in effect for Costa Rica,...
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ESA provides free Heterogeneous Mission Accessibility (HMA) manual Wed Sep 5 2012ESA offers, freely downloadable from its website, the Heterogeneous Mission Accessibility (HMA) manual that provides a high level view on the results of several years of harmonisation and standardisation work in the critical area of ground segment interoperability of Earth Observation (EO) satellite missions. The European space has coordinated efforts with downstream industries, research centres...
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EEA maps heatwave risks in Europe Wed Sep 5 2012The European Environment Agency (EEA) unveiled on 4 September 2012 an interactive map that shows the heatwave risk for European cities; this and other maps are included in a recently published EEA report entitled “Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe”. The interactive maps allow users to explore data from more than 500 cities in Europe and get a quick impression of some of the...
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EUMETSAT and China State Oceanic Administration sign cooperation agreement Wed Sep 5 2012The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and China State Oceanic Administration’s (SOA’s) National Satellite Ocean Application Service (NSOAS) signed on 30 August 2012 a cooperation agreement on the exchange of oceanographic satellite data. The agreement was signed in Beijing by the EUMETSAT Director-General, Alain Ratier, and the...
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International Charter activated for floods in USA Tue Sep 4 2012On 31 August 2012, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) activated the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Geosystems Research Institute (GRI) of the University of Mississippi, USA, is handling the project management for this activation. A Category 1 hurricane had hit New Orleans on Tuesday, 28 August 2012,...
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CATHALAC launches PortalGIS: A Geo-Viewer for Mesoamerica and the Caribbean Tue Sep 4 2012UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office, the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) launched PortalGIS, a new GIS tool to support environment, disaster risk and climate change efforts in the region of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. PortalGIS is a web-friendly geographic information tool, which, through an interactive portal, provides visual thematic data on...
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UNOOSA signs new funding agreement with Austria for UN-SPIDER Tue Sep 4 2012UNOOSA has finalized a new funding agreement with the Government of Austria, totalling another EUR 150,000 to the UN-SPIDER Programme. This substantial voluntary contribution will support several major activities carried out by the UN-SPIDER Programme, focusing on Technical Advisory Support (including specific support to Pacific Island countries and Africa), Outreach Activities (including the...
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IGAC researches application of satellite imagery for flooded areas Tue Sep 4 2012The Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute (IGAC), host of UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office in Colombia, conducted a case study to identify flooded areas in Colombia during the maximum rainfall period of the years 2010-2012. This activity was carried out in order to promote the importance of remote sensing techniques and the application of digital satellite imagery for the extraction of flooded...
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FEMA provides online course catalogue on emergency management Mon Sep 3 2012The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides an online Course Catalog presenting searchable, integrated information on courses provided or managed by FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), Emergency Management Institute (EMI), and National Training and Education Division (NTED). The online course catalog is now available although is...
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ADRC: Booklet on space-based information for Tsunami Assessment Mon Sep 3 2012UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office located in Japan, ADRC (Asian Disaster Reduction Centre), is in the process of producing the booklet "Considerations for effective use of space-based information to assess Tsunami impacts - Lessons learned from the recent Tsunami in Japan". This publication is realized in cooperation with the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA). The booklet will be of great...
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Pakistan's Space Agency conducts training on rescue operations Mon Sep 3 2012SUPARCO, the National Space Agency of Pakistan, host of UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office in Pakistan, conducted a hands-on training on the COSPAS-SARSAT programme to enhance the capabilities of search and rescue operators in emergency situations using satellite services. The training was carried out on request of the Civil Aviation Authority and took place in the city of Karachi from 17th-19th...
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GEO-UA Conference 2012: “Earth Observations for Sustainable Development and Security” Fri Aug 31 2012The 3rd Ukrainian Conference GEO-UA will be held in Evpatoria (Crimea, Ukraine) on September 3-7, 2012. The Conference is organized by the State Space Agency of Ukraine, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and by the Space Research Institute of NASU-NSAU, UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office (RSO) in Ukraine. The Conference aims at discussing the prospects of aero- and space-born data...
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The USGS provides SPOT data for Hurricane Isaac Fri Aug 31 2012The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offers SPOT data for Hurricane Isaac over Haiti acquired on the 28 and 29 of August 2012. A total of 40 images is available. Users can download public and restricted image datasets after registering and logging in to the USGS HDDS portal. The USGS Hazards Data Distribution System (HDDS) provides quick and easy access to imagery and geospatial data that supports...
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Google sponsors CrisisMappers Fellowships 2012 Fri Aug 31 2012Every year, the CrisisMappers Fellowship Program supports a number of individuals to participate in the annual conference of the CrisisMappers Network. This year, Google has offered to sponsor Fellowships for the 2012 CrisisMappers Conference, taking place in Washington, United States, on 11-14 October. CrisisMapper Fellows receive a free return flight, free registration, free participation in...
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Fourth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction announced Thu Aug 30 2012The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) invites all disaster risk reduction stakeholders to participate in the Fourth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction "Invest Today for a Safer Tomorrow" that will be held in Geneva at the International Conference Center from Sunday 19 May to Thursday 23 May 2013. At the Fourth Session of the Global...
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UN-SPIDER Conference on Risk Assessment in Beijing open for applications Thu Aug 30 2012The United Nations International Conference on Space-based Technologies for Disaster Management "Risk Assessment in the Context of Global Climate Change" taking place on 7-9 November 2012 at Zhongmin Plaza, Beijing, is now open for applications. The aim of the conference is to offer a forum for disaster management communities and experts to strengthen their capabilities in using space...
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NASU-NSAU forecasts winter wheat yield in Ukraine for 2012 Thu Aug 30 2012UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office (RSO) in Ukraine, the Space Research Institute NASU-NSAU, has elaborated an operational forecast of the winter wheat yield in Ukraine for 2012 using Earth Observation Data. Due to the winter kill effect, many areas of winter wheat in southern regions of Ukraine have been damaged in the last year. These regions could be identified with satellite imagery. The...
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Technical Advisory Mission to Mozambique: Call for experts Wed Aug 29 2012From 8 to 12 October 2012, UN-SPIDER will conduct a Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) to Mozambique as agreed upon during the UN International Conference "Space based technologies for disaster management' organised by the UN-SPIDER Beijing office in November 2011. UN-SPIDER is pleased to invite experts to participate in this mission. Experts should have an organisational mandate to assist in...
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International Charter activated for floods in three Western African countries Wed Aug 29 2012The International Charter: Space and Major Disasters has been activated three times in the past two days to provide satellite imagery and maps regarding floods in Niger, Senegal and Nigeria. West African nations experience torrential rains during their annual rain season, but this season has been reported as the worst in 50 years. In Niger, the Direction Générale de la Sé...
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Tropical Storm Isaac: Esri offers tracking map Tue Aug 28 2012Esri offers a free interactive map for tracking Isaac, a Tropical Storm rolling over the Gulf of Mexico on the verge of becoming a hurricane. The map was built using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript and is powered by ArcGIS Server. It offers constantly updated hurricane information on the projected paths, storm surge, weather warnings, and precipitation along with social media links that shows...
