As part of the SPEAR project, UN-SPIDER and ZFL organize and conduct events such as conferences, expert meetings, trainings or others, with a focus on supporting African countries in their efforts of using space-based technologies in the context of disaster management and emergency response. This page provides an overview of recent and upcoming events organized by UN-SPIDER and ZFL as part of the project.
Link to registration: https://indico.un.org/event/1007916/
The agenda will be provided in due time.
Background
Natural and man-made disasters cause tremendous damage to societies around the world. They lead to loss of lives and property, displace people from their homes and destroy livelihoods, and disrupt sustainable development efforts worldwide. In recent years, climate change, extreme weather, population growth, and urbanization have led to an increasing number of people being threatened by natural disasters, and it has become a global challenge to mitigate disaster risks and reduce the loss of people's lives and property and environmental damage. Developing countries are particularly susceptible to the impact of disasters as societies are more vulnerable and exposed, and less resilient to recover when disasters strike.
In 2019, The UNOOSA, through its UN-SPIDER programme, and the… Read more
In November 2000, several space agencies joined forces to establish the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters". The International Charter has been set up as a worldwide collaboration through which products generated from satellite imagery are made available free of charge to those responding to disasters in any region of the world. By combining Earth observation assets from different space agencies, the Charter allows resources and expertise to be coordinated. Since it was launched, the Charter has been activated more than 800 times to contribute to disaster response efforts.
During activations, the members of the International Charter provide access to satellite imagery that is processed by Project Managers and Value-Added Providers (PMs & VAs) to generate useful and timely space-based information to be used in disaster response efforts. In the year 2022, the Charter introduced a new tool: the ESA Charter Mapper, to support PMs & VAs in the processing of… Read more
Doughts are some of the most frequent natural disasters that can become a major threat to livelihoods, food-security, infrastructure and even life. Remote sensing and earth observation provide valuable tools to monitor ongoing floods and drought, assess the current situation from space and produce products that can support stakeholders and decision makers.
The online training organized by the Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces (ZFL) of the University of Bonn in Germany aims to provide an overview of Remote Sensing and Copernicus data in the context of floods and droughts. With the help of the tools and platforms presented during this training, you will be able to make use of earth observation data in the context of floods and droughts and gain background knowledge on how earth observation can support disaster-… Read more
Floods are some of the most frequent natural disasters that can become a major threat to livelihoods, food-security, infrastructure and even life. Remote sensing and earth observation provide valuable tools to monitor ongoing floods and drought, assess the current situation from space and produce products that can support stakeholders and decision makers.
The online training organized by the Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces (ZFL) of the University of Bonn in Germany aims to provide an overview of Remote Sensing and Copernicus data in the context of floods. With the help of the tools and platforms presented during this training, you will be able to make use of earth observation data in the context of floods and droughts and gain background knowledge on how earth observation can support disaster-manager across… Read more
The UN-SPIDER/ GloFAS / DLR / ZFL International Workshop: “Space technologies for flood management” aimed at contributing to an increased use of satellite technologies and novel processing techniques to respond to challenges posed by disasters. The International Training Workshop aimed:
- To raise awareness regarding novel techniques and tools developed by DLR, the Copernicus programme, and UN-SPIDER useful in flood management.
- Contribute to increase the skills of young professionals engaged in the use of Earth observation and novel geospatial information technologies to contribute to flood management efforts.
- Facilitate networking efforts among young professionals engaged in disaster management efforts.
The International Training Workshop included plenary presentations, a training on the use of novel techniques to process satellite imagery in case of floods, and a simulation of floods to familiarize participants with novel procedures and… Read more
