Technical Advisory Mission to Guatemala

Technical Advisory Mission to Guatemala, 22 to 26 November 2010

Conducted at the request of the Presidential Secretariat for Planning and Programming (SEGEPLAN), UN-SPIDER assembled a team of experts from CATHALAC-SERVIR which is a UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office, CONAE, CRECTEALC, and the Organization of American States.

As in previous missions in Ecuador, Jamaica, and Dominican Republic, the TAM to Guatemala included visits to a variety of government institutions and universities, as well as a workshop with the goal of identifying strengths and weaknesses regarding access to and use of space-based information in all phases of the disaster management cycle. Through a review of existing institutional policies, strategies, and past and ongoing activities conducted by these institutions, the team of experts was able to deduct a set of recommendations that will allow Guatemala to institutionalize its capacity to use space-based information to respond to disasters provoked by floods, hurricanes, droughts, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes and other hazards.

Findings

The mission took note of institutional strengths regarding the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For example, SEGEPLAN makes use of these systems to analyze needs in all geographic areas of the country as a means to elaborate the territorial and sectorial development plans. The National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) works with GIS to elaborate a variety of maps presenting information about hazards and risks in various regions of the county. They include the location of early warning systems for floods and of alert systems for volcanic eruptions, as well as maps depicting impacts of events triggered by a variety of hazards. The Ministry of Agriculture (MAGA) has combined GIS with Earth observation to elaborate land-use maps focusing on crops, hazard maps, and maps of impacts of disasters on crops. It is furthermore elaborating a map regarding potential uses of land for agriculture to contribute to land-use planning in rural areas of the country (Photo: at MAGA).

 The mission also took note of examples for the use of space-based information for a variety of applications. As expected, the use of this type of information is already well institutionalized in the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology, and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH), particularly for weather monitoring, which is essential for commercial and private aerial navigation. In addition, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and universities such as Rafael Landivar, Del Valle, and Mariano Galvez make use of Earth observation to track deforestation and the advance of the agricultural frontier, as well as particular events such as the outbreak of cyano-bacteria in Lake Atitlan from October to December 2009 with the support of CATHALAC-SERVIR. Earth observation is also used by the National System for Forest Fire Prevention and Combat (SIPECIF), in particular to track hotspots and forest-fire scars. CONRED is also making use of space-based information collected by NOAA, USGS, and other agencies, as well as from satellites for several applications including soil moisture (Photo: at INSIVUMEH).

The mission team was also made aware about offers from Taiwan, Province of China and Argentina to support the Government of Guatemala in its recovery from tropical storm Agatha. Taiwan, Province of China has offered to donate imagery for a variety of applications on a periodic basis satellite and Argentina is assessing how best to support government agencies as well.

The team of experts was also made aware of ongoing efforts conducted by SEGEPLAN to facilitate the sharing of information by government agencies through the establishment of the National Spatial Database Infrastructure (IDE-G). Efforts to establish this SDI began over a decade ago, when the National Geographic Institute (IGN) established the National Geographic Information System and a clearinghouse for such a purpose (Photo: workshop at SEGEPLAN).

SpaceAid and international cooperation

In response to the severe impacts provoked by tropical storm Agatha in June 2010 and the volcanic eruption of Pacaya volcano at the end of May; UN-SPIDER activated its SpaceAid Framework and was able to mobilize space agencies from China, Germany, and Argentina to support the National Emergency Operations Center (COE) in its role of coordinating disaster response. SERVIR-CATHALAC was also able to mobilize satellite imagery from Taiwan, Province of China and the United States. The imagery provided by these space agencies was used by staff from CONRED, SEGEPLAN, MAGA, and the IARNA Institute in Rafael Landivar University to map affected areas. These efforts lead to the establishment of an ad-hoc group on earth observations to support disaster response operations.

Recommendations

Becoming aware of these advances, as well as inputs from other agencies, the mission team was able to make several recommendations such as:

• The ad-hoc remote sensing group to be institutionalized through an inter-institutional memorandum or agreement, so that it can support not only COE in case of disasters, but also other agencies in case of events such as epidemics and harmful algae blooms, plagues affecting crops, forest fires, contamination and industrial accidents (spills), etc. The institutionalization will also allow other government agencies to designate members from its staff to become part of this group.
• IGN to serve as a repository of satellite imagery and to enhance the skills and knowledge of staff in government agencies and academia through training programmes.
• SEGEPLAN to act as coordinator of the remote sensing group, and to provide technical support in providing the group with a portal to display the information generated and to provide the institutional support when needed in case of agreements and projects to be conducted by the group with national, regional, or international organizations.
• SEGEPLAN to make use of, to disseminate, and to promote the use of the information generated by the remote sensing group through its National Territorial Information System (SINIT) at the national, departmental, and municipal levels throughout the country.
• Universities to contribute to the generation of information through applied research programmes or projects.
• The National Council of Science and Technology to support these activities through its Commission on Earth Sciences, Oceans, and Space (COCITOE).
   

The mission concluded with a briefing to the Lady Director of SEGEPLAN, the Director of Territorial Ordainment and the Director of SINIT. The opportunity was used to discuss further actions, and for the Lady Director of SEGEPLAN to become aware of the usefulness of space-based information for a variety of applications. The team of experts used the opportunity to propose recommendations regarding policies, strategies, and actions to institutionalize the use of space-based information in Guatemala (Photo: with the Lady Director and staff of SEGEPLAN).