Geoinformation for Disaster and Risk Management - ISPRS

A field visit to the flood-prone region with hands-on
training on GPS applications for disaster managers
followed by training for technical experts to improve
end-user adapted geospatial emergency response
products and services completed the mission. The
workshop and training were funded by the German
Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
Again in late February and March 2009, severe
flooding affected Northern Namibia due to heavy
local rains and an inflow of water from northern
regions. On 27 February 2009, UNOOSA again
activated the International Charter.
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Whereas the first call was extended in time to
specific regions in Northern Namibia, a second call
followed for the affected areas bordering the
Okavango and the Zambesi Rivers in North/North
Eastern Namibia. In addition to the Charter
activation, UN-SPIDER was involved in a range of
activities to provide supplemental information, data
and imagery.
Finally, the community that was brought together by
this approach decided not only to support Namibia
during the relief situation but to implement a pilot
project with more far reaching goals.
The idea was to collect weekly high resolution
imagery from satellites such as EO-1, Formosat and
Radarsat and to validate the satellite data against
ground measurements so that the satellite data can
be used for better forecasting of floods and for
improved situational awareness for in-country
emergency workers. A technical workshop was held
at the UN-SPIDER Bonn Office in August 2009 with
representatives from UN-SPIDER, NASA, NOAA, DLR,
the Namibia Department of Hydrology and Ukraine
Space Research Institute to begin planning ahead.
Figure 11:
UN-SPIDER activities in
Namibia 2008-2010