China

China has announced that its meteorological satellite Fengyun-II 08 has been successfully launched from Xichang Satellite Centre, located in Sichuan Province, South-West China, on 31 December 2014.

The purpose of the satellite will be to collect meteorological, maritime and hydrological data. These data will be used for weather forecasting and environment monitoring.

China has already put in orbit another satellite of the same type, the Fengyun-II 07. It was launched on January 13, 2012, and is today fully operational.

China has successfully launched its second Disaster Relief Satellite, Yaogan Weixing-24, on Thursday 20 November, at 15:12 local time.

The Yaogan Weixing-24 remote-sensing satellite will carry out disaster relief monitoring, scientific experiments and assess and estimate crop yields.

On 22 October 2014, Yaogan-22 had been launched, the first of the series. Yaogan Weixing satellites use optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors.

China will launch about 70 remote sensing satellites to detect the near-Earth space environment and predict extreme events, according to Yang Baohua, deputy general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The remote sensing satellites will be part of a broader programme encompassing a total of 120 satellites that are planned to be launched. Of the remaining satellites, about 20 will be communication satellites and 30 navigation satellites.

As stated by Yang, the satellites will help China to meet its increasing demand for aerospace technology and build a self-controlled national space infrastructure that can operate continuously and stably for a long time. Nonetheless, the deputy general manager did not specified when the launches will take place.

Following a memorandum of understanding of 6 October, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Indonesian Maritime Security Coordinating Board (IMSCB) have signed an agreement on the access to Chinese remote-sensing data.

The negotiated agreement allows the transmission of CNSA remote sensing information to IMSCB ground receiving stations, which are responsible for the Indonesian archipelago's security. The arrangement is intended to improve IMSCB's early-warning capacity and to enhance disaster relief and response and maritime law enforcement.

Chinese remote sensing technologies will deliver valuable data to Indonesia. In particular, space-based information will be useful for maritime surveillance, topography, marine resource management, and environmental monitoring.

The UN-SPIDER team warmly welcomes our new colleague in the Bonn Office, Dr. Joachim Post. Joachim joined UN-SPIDER in September and he will be providing technical and scientific support to the Programme. He will mainly support the Bonn Office in its activities, including the further development of the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal, Technical Advisory Support, and the establishment of partnerships.

Joachim is a seconded expert from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He has worked at DLR's German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) since 2006 as a research scientist on risk assessment. His work included the development and implementation of tsunami risk assessment and knowledge for early warning in Indonesia (GITEWS project). Additionally, he was involved in several international projects including in Southern and Western Africa, South East Asia, South America and Europe, dealing with applied risk analysis research.

Joachim... read more

The United Nations International Conference on Space-based Technologies on for Disaster Management - "Multi-hazard Disaster Risk Assessment" took place from 15 to 17 September 2014 in Beijing, China. This Conference was co-organized by the UN-SPIDER Beijing Office of UNOOSA and the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in collaboration with the Department of Treaty and Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC, the Department of Social Security, the Ministry of Finance of PRC, the Department of System Engineering, China National Space Administration of PRC, the Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) and with the support of DigitalGlobe.

More than 110 participants from 36 countries representing 56 organizations attended the event. The conference agenda offered six plenary sessions, three working group sessions and one scientific symposium consisting of about 50 presentations. On the last day, the conference invited participants to visit... read more

The International Charter: Space and Major Disasters published its 9th newsletter on 28 July 2014.

The newsletter announces that the China National Space Administration (CNSA) took over on 17 April 2014 the rotating chairmanship of the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’. CNSA will be leading the Charter for six months, succeeding the Argentinian Space Agency (CONAE). In April 2014, CNSA also hosted the 31st meeting of the Charter, about operational matters and progress and a Project Manager (PM) training course on the International Charter at the China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application (CRESDA).

Among the other covered topics: the launch of DAICHI-2 (ALOS-2) from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, the CNSA contribution of GF-1 Satellite to the Charter and the Universal Access maps provided by Geoscience Australia.

The agency requested the International Charter's support after the severe bushfires of October 2013. The first... read more

On 3 August 2014 the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters was activated at the request of the National Disaster Reduction Center of China (NDRCC) in response to a 6.1 magnitude earthquake in the Yunnan Province, South of China. The mechanism will provide space-based maps of the affected area.

Due to this earthquake - the strongest that has affected the Yunnan Province in 40 years - around 400 people have died and thousands have been evacuated. 130 cities have been affected. Ludian and Qiajia County's were among the worst affected, and beyond huge damages from the earthquake, roads have been blocked and communications and power severed in some areas, delaying the transit of vital supplies to survivors. Heavy rain falling over the area is also making rescue efforts more difficult, and storms are expected in Ludian County over the next few days.

Satellite-based products and maps created through the mechanism will be published on the International Charter's... read more

After the successful launch of Gaofen-1 in April 2013, China will launch its second high definition optical Earth Observation satellite, Gaofen-2, in the course of 2014, as the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) announced.

The Gaofen satellite mission will provide support to environmental and climate change monitoring, precision farming, urban planning and disaster management. Gaofen-1 already provided data for several disasters in 2013, including the Lushan earthquake in Sichuan, floods in northeast China and a major earthquake in Pakistan. Gaofen-2 is the second of five or six high definition Earth Observation satellites to be launched as part of the Gaofen satellite series before 2016.

UN-SPIDER participated in the International Seminar on Application of Communication Technology in Disaster Reduction and Prevention organized by the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO) in Suzhou, China from 26 to 29 May 2014. UN-SPIDER's expert Ms Longfei Liu gave a lecture on space-based information for disaster assessment and prevention.

19 participants from 16 ICDO member countries and more than 10 international experts attended the seminar. It mainly aimed to enhance the understanding and practical experience of the communication technology for supporting disaster risk reduction. The seminar introduced theories and applications of modern communication through lectures, technical analysis, case studies and simulation exercises focusing on the application of mobile, satellite and... read more

The application phase for the “United Nations International Conference on Space-based Technologies for Disaster Management - "Multi-hazard Disaster Risk Assessment" is now open. The conference will take place from 15 to 17 September 2014 in Beijing, China and is organized by the UN-SPIDER Beijing Office jointly with the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

Application is only possible online through this weblink. The final deadline for application is 29 June 2014. The organisers will be able to offer support to a limited number of participants from Member States and organisations engaged in developing or intending to develop a partnership with the UN-SPIDER programme. The support will defray the cost of travel (round-trip ticket – most economic fare – between the airport of international departure in their country of residence and Beijing) and/or... read more

Two UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER experts participated in the Project Manager (PM) training for the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters from 10 to 11 April in Beijing, China.

The PM training is one of the most important efforts to improve the effective operation of the Charter mechanism. The aim of the training was to provide a deeper understanding of the whole process of coordinating Charter activations to effectively take advantage of this mechanism during emergencies.

UN-SPIDER also presented at the 31st Board Meeting of International Charter on 17 April 2014. UN-SPIDER appraised the board members about efforts of UN-SPIDER to promote Charter and cooperation opportunities. During the meeting from 13 to 17 April 2014, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) took over the role of secretariat from the Argentinean Space Agency (CONAE) for the next six months.