Geoinformation for Disaster and Risk Management - ISPRS

What UN-SPIDER is doing -
Its Tools and Activities
The goals of UN-SPIDER are to bring the conceptual
tools to reality. In parallel, the organization of
international and regional UN-SPIDER Workshops is
a well-proven means to raise awareness, to transfer
knowledge, to support the establishment of
Communities of Practice, and to foster alliances.
Between these events, the flow of information is
maintained by an E-Newsletter and monthly
updates.
SpaceAid
The major field of work of UN-SPIDER comprises
activities which might be described as brokering
space-based information, by developing and
implementing the SpaceAid concept. SpaceAid is UN-
SPIDER's framework to facilitate fast and efficient
access to space-based information for countries, and
international and regional organizations. This
includes all types of information provided by earth
observation satellites, communication satellites and
GNSS. The activation of the International Charter
Space and Major Disasters through UNOOSA on
behalf of other UN agencies is also part of this
framework.
SpaceAid support can be accessed by the UN-SPIDER
National Focal Points, UN-SPIDER Regional Support
Offices and UN agencies. UN-SPIDER is also working
on bringing in local partners. Authorized
government agencies as well as major international
and regional organizations will also have access to
SpaceAid as procedures develop. Users can request
the support of SpaceAid through a hotline that can
be accessed by telephone, e-mail or fax. A central
unit coordinates and follows-up on all requests. This
framework is operational on a 24 hours
per day/7 days a week basis in order to respond
timely to a disaster.
UN-SPIDER requests or facilitates the activation of
international provider mechanisms, which includes
the International Charter Space and Major Disasters,
Sentinel Asia, SAFER etc. This approach may be
illustrated by a short case report.
In Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the
Caribbean, seismic activity at the Soufriere Hills
Volcano started to increase on 26 July 2008. This
volcano has been intermittently active for 13 years.
On 28 July, an explosion took place on the west side
of a large lava dome at the summit. The dome
partially collapsed, and there was a strong possibility
that the explosion had caused instability in the rest
of the dome, which could cause further collapses and
endanger inhabited areas of the island
The Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) is part
of Montserrat's disaster management system and
plays an important role in providing early warning to
the authorities of a possible eruption of the volcano.
MVO Staff however, were not able to make any
assessment of the stability of the dome at that time,
due to persistent clouds obscuring the volcano.
Therefore, aerial surveys or optical satellite imagery
could not be applied. An additional challenge was to
obtain a set of comparable before/after images that
would allow the staff to analyze the terrain and
determine the extent of change in the volcanic dome.
Within this backdrop Roderick Stewart, MVO Acting
Director, requested assistance from the scientific
community, including his fellow participants at the
recent UN-SPIDER workshop for the Caribbean
region, in order to obtain satellite imagery of the
volcano.
The assistance obtained led to several satellite
imagery acquisitions and the activation of the
International Charter Space and Major Disasters. A
set of high resolution radar images fulfilled the
requirements and were analyzed for terrain change
after the explosion. The imagery allowed MVO to
determine that the lava dome had not been
destabilized by the explosion. As a result, the
Government of Montserrat was able to save valuable
resources by cancelling an evacuation that had been
planned as a precautionary measure. While most of
the International Charter activations happen after a
disaster has struck, the Caribbean island of
Montserrat provided an example of how satellite
imagery can be used to assess and prepare for an
imminent disaster.
As a Cooperating Body to the Charter, UNOOSA has
already been providing such support since 2003. It
has requested the activation of the Charter a total of
75 times by the end of March 2010, which makes the
United Nations, through UNOOSA, the largest single
user of the International Charter. Through the UN-
SPIDER SpaceAid Framework, UNOOSA continues to
be the main contributor to ensuring access and use
of space-based information to support emergency
response in developing countries.
In 2009, the SpaceAid framework has provided
support to disaster response and recovery efforts in
Morocco, Namibia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Senegal,
Mauritania, Burkina Faso, the Philippines, Samoa,
Laos and Fiji (in chronological order), followed by
support for response and relief activities in the
Solomon Islands, Haiti and Gaza/oPt, Cook Islands,
Tonga, Ukraine, Chile, Uganda and Turkey (as of 8
March 2010).
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