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space agencies and associated governmental bodies to
exchange technical views, opinions and information on
national space programmes and space resources.
Framework
Sentinel Asia is promoted with cooperation amongst the
space community (APRSAF), the international commu-
nity (UN ESCAP, UN OOSA, ASEAN, Asian Institute of
Technology etc), the disaster reduction community
(Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) and its
member countries), and the Digital Asia community
(Keio University etc).
To support the implementation of the SA project, a Joint
Project Team (JPT) was organized. Membership of the JPT
is open to all the APRSAF member countries, disaster
prevention organizations and regional/international orga-
nizations that are prepared to contribute their experience
and technical capabilities, and that wish to participate in
technical aspects of disaster information sharing activities.
Activities
Sentinel Asia has two main responsibilities:
1. Providing disaster-related information in the Asia-
Pacific region, such as satellite imagery and
satellite data products through the website
2. Capacity building to develop human resources and
a human network to utilize the information
provided by the website.
SA Step 2 has recently been initiated with the following principles
and objectives:
• A contribution from the space community (APRSAF) to disaster
management in the Asia-Pacific region
• To promote utilization of disaster-related information obtained
by space and remote sensing technology in order to mitigate
and prevent damage caused by natural disasters
• To strengthen and succeed Step 1, considering the findings and
achievements of Step 1 and users’ needs
• A voluntary initiative through the new Joint Project Team.
Background
According to statistics, the Asia region has been seriously damaged by
natural disasters over the last 30 years.
1
This is compounded by its
high levels of population (close to 3 billion). Disasters occurring in
Asia comprise 37 per cent of the worldwide total, whereas the region
has 57 per cent of the global fatalities and 89 per cent of the total
victims associated with such disasters.
In view of these circumstances, APRSAF proposed Sentinel Asia in
2005, to showcase the value and impact of Earth observation tech-
nologies, combined with near-real-time Internet dissemination
methods and Web-GIS mapping tools for disaster management
support in the Asia-Pacific region. APRSAF was established in 1993,
in response to the declaration adopted by the Asia-Pacific
International Space Year Conference (APIC) in 1992, to enhance the
development of each country’s space programme and to exchange
views toward future cooperation in space activities in the Asia-Pacific
region. It was originally designed to provide opportunities for regional
Total number during 1975-2006 quoted from
‘ADRC-Natural Disasters Data Book-2006’
originated in CRED-EMDAT, 2006
37%
44%
57%
89%
»
Number of disasters
Asia: 3290
World: 8776
»
Economical damage
Asia: 565 Billion US$
World: 1270 Billion US$
»
The death toll
Asia: 1,268,062
World: 2,216,408
»
Victims
Asia: 48.68 Hundred Million
World: 54.77 Hundred Million
Asia
Natural disaster damages in Asia, 1975-2006
Source: CRED-EMDAT, 2006