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to discuss the data needs of risk managers and to begin

planning the regular acquisition of a baseline data set.

These acquisitions will support global disaster mitiga-

tion activities and facilitate the generation of damage

maps after events. By increasing the number of satellites

available to disaster managers and coordinating the

access to data, a virtual constellation of satellites will

supply all weather data at low and high resolutions in

near-real time in support of disaster response, and base-

line data in support of mitigation, warning, response

and recovery. GEO member states and participating

organizations are currently defining and facilitating the

implementation of this constellation for multi-hazard

risk managment.

Through GEO, it is hoped that successful systems can

be taken one step further. For example, the GEO

Secretariat is formulating a request to the Board of the

International Charter to extend to all member states the

right to directly activate the Charter and access data

archives. In parallel, space agencies in the context of

CEOS and DI-06-09 are currently discussing how to

address needs for data during other phases of the disas-

ter cycle: mitigation, warning and recovery. In order to

do this, GEO members are compiling the first compre-

hensive requirements for satellite data for all disasters

on a global basis. This work will build on extensive user

requirements analysis in each of the disaster communi-

ties involved, as well as technical analyses undertaken by

the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, the

Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership, the

EU and others over the course of the last decade. From

this analysis, priority observations will be identified and

better coordinated, and mechanisms for broader data

access will be established.

Current status and next steps

In the context of DI-06-09, user communities are

working with satellite data providers to provide the first

comprehensive statement of global requirements for

Earth observations to support disaster management.

These are compiled taking advantage of regional initia-

tives such as GMES, Sentinel Asia and SERVIR. Given

that requirements aim to address a broad range of

natural disasters at every phase of the disaster manage-

ment cycle, the compilation of these has been

demanding. This work includes defining global baseline

data sets that meet the basic needs of disaster manage-

ment communities for forecasts, warnings and recovery.

Eventually, GEO members intend to create a virtual

constellation of satellites that together can address all

phases of disaster management. The initial system archi-

tecture is based on existing systems put together to

collectively address needs. Future system architecture

requirements will address critical gaps identified in the

current system of systems. Users and satellite designers

and operators will meet in autumn 2007 to validate

initial requirements and establish a timeline for creat-

ing a system that marries existing, planned and future

assets together in one operational service.

mation on multiple hazards. The system will draw on satellite-

derived products and imagery from all available Earth observing

geostationary or low-earth orbiting satellites, including meteoro-

logical satellites. Sentinel Asia is also used to trigger dedicated data

acquisitions through participating and cooperating space agencies

during disasters in the region. Its initial focus has been on targeted

observations in cases of emergency, wildfire monitoring using

MODIS, flood monitoring, and capacity building for utilization of

satellite imagery by disaster managers. The system is led by a joint

project team comprised of 51 organizations including 44 agencies

from 18 countries and seven international organizations.

In Latin America, another system provides broad operational

support for Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)

goals, including disasters. SERVIR is a regional visualization and

monitoring system for Mesoamerica that integrates satellite and other

geospatial data for improved scientific knowledge and decision-

making by managers, researchers, students and the general public.

SERVIR addresses the nine societal benefit areas of GEOSS. For

example, it can be used to monitor and forecast ecological changes

and severe events such as forest fires, red tides and tropical storms.

SERVIR headquarters are at the Water Center for the Humid Tropics

of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) in Panama. A test

bed and rapid prototyping SERVIR facility is managed by the NASA

Marshall Space Flight Center. SERVIR implementing agencies include

NASA, CATHALAC, the US Agency for International Development

(USAID), the Central American Commission for Environment and

Development, the World Bank, the Nature Conservancy, the UN

Environment Programme and the Institute for the Application of

Geospatial Technologies.

Added value and broadened scope

Recognizing the broad range of international activities being under-

taken to use satellites in support of disaster management, and the

strong potential such technologies offer, the UN has sought to estab-

lish a global system that offers broad access to data for all UN

member states in support of all phases of disaster management. In its

resolution 61/110 of 14 December 2006, the UN General Assembly

agreed to establish the United Nations Platform for Space-based

Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response

(UN-SPIDER) as a new programme within the Office for Outer Space

Affairs (UNOOSA), with the following mission statement: “Ensure

that all countries and all relevant international and regional organi-

zations have access to and develop the capacity to use all types of

space-based information and services to support the full disaster

management cycle.” The General Assembly recognized that space

technology and its applications can play a vital role in supporting

disaster relief operations by providing accurate and timely informa-

tion and communication support, and also recognized the

importance of coordinated applications of space technology in the

implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action. Whereas a

number of initiatives in recent years have contributed to making

space technologies available for humanitarian and emergency

response, UN-SPIDER is the first to focus on the need to ensure

access to and use of such solutions during all phases of the disaster,

including the risk reduction phase which will significantly contribute

to an increasing reduction in loss of lives and property.

GEO work under DI-06-09 has been closely coordinated with UN-

SPIDER activities. In June 2007, representatives from GEO members

met at UNOOSA headquarters in parallel to a UN-SPIDER meeting

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