NEWS ITEMS:
11th July 2008
Respond Partner GeoID complete Thematic Mapping of Nkurungu, Uganda for the analysis of accessibility to drinking water.
Protos, a water NGO, requested detailed mapping of houses, road infrastructure, rivers and water bodies and the analysis of drinking water accessibility be undertaken by Respond. With this information a better understanding of access to drinking water and the location of critical locations would be possible.
As a result, Respond-partner GeoID, produced two digital thematic maps of Nkurungu at a scale of 1:10,000, both based on an Ikonos image that was taken in March 2008. A website was developed integrating a 3D interactive file including all the developed layers: http://www.3D.GeoID.be/Nkurungu.
The full report can be found here.
To view the maps please visit our online product catalogue.
3rd July 2008
Extended cyclone relief efforts aided from space.
The Respond consortium and its partners have provided vital information to relief workers in Myanmar throughout a particularly long crisis response window following the devastating Cyclone Nargis that hit the country on 2 and 3 May 2008.
The full report from ESA can be found here.
24th June 2008
Members of international relief organisations participate successfully in Respond User Training at DLR.
The practical training event from 28th- 29th May 2008 is one among several outreach and information activities of Respond to give members of relief organisations a better understanding of products derived from satellite imagery. During different hands-on sessions participants were acquainted with geographical information systems (GIS), satellite image interpretation and the use of Respond products such as crisis maps and geoinformation for emergency response and relief activities during humanitarian disasters.
The full report can be found here.
20th June 2008
ITUK completes the first communication map in Spanish!
This product will be used by UN-ISDR and their partner CIIFEN (International Research Centre on El Nino) in support to current activities related to “Climate Information applied to Agriculture Risk management in the Andean Region”. The communication map, which was created in both English and Spanish, was based on the basic and thematic maps produced last year and is targeted to an audience with a general interest in disaster risk reduction.
Full details can be found here.
9th June 2008
GMES Respond actively involved in providing flood risk mitigation and crisis and damage mapping of Myanmar.
In response to Cyclone Nargis, GMES Respond was called into action by providing emergency mapping services on behalf of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters and by completing the delivery of proactive flood risk mitigation and preparedness mapping services over Myanmar. The results of work undertaken by GMES Respond is summarised in the press release below and the mapsheets and GIS layers are freely downloadable from the Respond catalogue.
The full press release can be found here.
5th June 2008
Respond partner UNOSAT active in Sri Lanka Flood mapping
Following a request from UN-OCHA, Respond partner UNOSAT is undertaking Category 4 crisis and damage mapping following monsoon-triggered floods and landslides.
Sri Lankan officials said Tuesday (June 3) that more than 350,000 people have been displaced and the death toll has risen to 19, according to the BBC. Normal life has reportedly been severely disrupted in the western districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara, and the southern districts of Galle, Mathara and Rathnapura. Officials say that monsoon rains have been heavier than normal, causing landslides and rivers to break their banks in south, west and central areas of the country.
4 June: At least 18 people have been killed. Eight districts have been hit by floods and landslides caused by the heavy rains with some 292,000 people being displaced, officials from the Disaster Management Center said.
27th May 2008
MapAction assist with GIS capacity for Myanmar
Respond partner MapAction have two team members located in Bangkok who are currently providing the core GIS capacity for the Myanmar HIC and the Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU). This has involved using some UNOSAT/Respond/Charter data.
Maps are at www.mapaction.org.
For further information, please contact:
Nigel Woof - Operations Director
MapAction
Lime Farm Office, Little Missenden HP7 0RQ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1494 865 031
21st May 2008
Emergency response in China benefits from TerraSAR-X rapid mapping and evaluation services from Respond partner Infoterra GmbH.
Emergency response operations following the recent earthquake in the province of Sichuan, China, are now being supported through the rapid provision of high-quality radar and optical satellite imagery as well as detailed evaluations of this data by Infoterra GmbH and Spot Image SA.
In a joint effort, the two companies have provided Chinese government agencies and rescue organizations with satellite imagery, interpretation support, maps, and rapid evaluations depicting the conditions of urban areas, infrastructure, and landscapes.
Infoterra and Spot Image had tasked their respective satellites, the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X and the French optical satellite SPOT 5, to acquire data of the affected areas.
The full press release can be found here.
Mapping is available to download from the Infoterra website.
13th May 2008
Respond partner SERTIT is requested to provide flood extent and monitoring mapping of Myanmar.
Respond partner SERTIT is requested by the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters Project Manager to produce flood extent mapping using Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) data in order to complete the existing flood extent mapping which had been partially obscured by cloud.
The ASAR data will also be used for monitoring the flooded areas in order to determine the status of the floods and whether they are receding, particularly as further bad weather is forecast which is likely to exacerbate the current situation . The completed maps will be posted to the Respond catalogue as soon as the processing is completed.
10th May 2008
Respond partner DLR issues crisis and damage map of the Irrawaddy Division in Myanmar.
Following Cyclone Nargis’s devastating sweep across Myanmar, Respond partner DLR issues a satellite map showing the flood extent of the Irrawaddy Division derived from ALOS/PALSAR data as at the May 6, 2008 and which may be downloaded from the Respond catalogue. This map compliments the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters mapping as produced by Respond partner UNOSAT under Call 203.
Additional Myanmar crisis & damage maps can be downloaded from DLR and UNOSAT’s websites.
9th May 2008
International Charter on Space and Major Disasters is activated following Cyclone Nargis' destructive path over Myanmar.
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was activated on the 4th May following Cyclone Nargis hitting the Yangon region of Myanmar. Respond partner DLR is currently involved in providing the Crisis and Damage mapping under the coordination of UNOSAT. More details can be found on the International Charter website.
8th May 2008
Myanmar: Respond completes comprehensive 1:50,000 scale mapping of Myanmar.
Respond partner Keyobs has completed comprehensive mapping at 1:50,000 scale over Ayeyarwady district of Myanmar. This was initially supplied in preparedness for severe flooding events and provides an updated overview of the main coastal region featuring information on populated places, transportation, hydrographic network and administrative limits.
Full details can be found here.
15th April 2008
Respond User Training Session
Date: 28th - 29th May 2008
Location: DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen/Munich, GERMANY
Users from all working levels within the humanitarian domain are welcome. Training will start at 8:30h on the first day and will end at 17:00h on the second day (arrival the day before is recommended).
Respond User Training Invitation
Respond User Training Agenda
The training aims to present the Respond project, its services and related topics like the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters. Participants will be introduced to basics in remote sensing, GIS and mapping, followed by a hands-on practical using the techniques presented. The training will be tailored to the composition of the participants and their level of knowledge.
To register please contact Tobias.Schneiderhan@dlr.de with the following information:
number of participants, name of organisation, name of participants, working domain (e.g. humantiarian aid, search and rescue), working level (e.g. infield rescue team), contact details (Email address).
The number of participants is limited.
14th April 2008
Respond Website and Map Catalogue Manual re-issue.
Following recent changes to the website and map catalogue, the Manual that provides an overview to the functionality and instructions on how to use them has been completely re written. All recent changes are now included along with up to date screenshots and more detailed instructions how to use the map catalogue. Further details about proposed future evolutions of the website and map catalogue are included.
To access the revised manual please go to the Respond website.
For more information about Respond, please visit the Respond website or email Respond.
31st March 2008
Complete list of all Stage 1 Maps for Respond available.
Stage 1 of Respond ran from 2004-2006, and during this time 228 maps were published online to the map catalogue. All the maps are available via the online map catalogue. A complete list is available via the following link.
To find out more about Stage 1 of Respond and its achievements, please email Respond.
31st March 2008
Topsat images acquired of Namibia floods.
Following the recent flooding in Namibia, images have been acquired by Topsat.
The Topsat images were acquired yesterday in the Sangwali area and cover an area of (17x17km). Please click here to view the images. The first slide shows a zoomed-in area around Sangwali Village and the second slide shows the full image extent.
To obtain the high resolution versions of the these images, please contact Respond.
26th March 2008
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section comprehensively updated.
Respond have recently compiled a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions, along with outline answers and links to where to find further information.
To access the FAQ, please visit the page of the Respond website . The questions will be regularly reviewed for accuracy, answers updated, and new questions added where relevant.
If you feel a specific question is missing, have some feedback or you have an additional enquiry, please feel free to email Respond.
Updated News Item 26th March 2008 (originally posted 14th March)
Maps added of Namibia Flooding
Following activation call 197 of the International Charter for Space and Natural Disasters, Respond partner UNOSAT has produced 6 maps. These are available on the UNOSAT website, the Charter website under call ID 197 or on the Respond website.
Charter Activated for Namibia Flooding
At 09:52:10 on the 14 March 2008, the International Charter was activated in response to the recent severe flooding in Namibia. The charter activated by UNOOSA, on behalf of UNDP will be project managed by ESA. Respond partner UNOSAT will continue to support UNDP and the Namibian Ministry for Agriculture, Water and Forest, also in the context of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters activation.
19th March 2008
All Respond Phase 1 mapping now available on Reuters AlertNet
In addition to being available on the Respond website, all Respond Phase 1 mapping is now available on the Reuters Foundation award winning website AlertNet. Respond partners Reuters and ITUK have been working closely together over the past 2 months to develop the capability of displaying Respond maps as soon as they are published to the Respond website. This will increase the number of users accessing Respond services with over 25,000 daily visitors and 400 NGO’s currently signed up to use the AlertNet services.
Nick Veck (Respond Project Leader –Infoterra Ltd) commented ‘I am delighted that the valuable mapping produced as part of Respond will now be visible to a whole new audience. We have undertaken a lot of effort to enhance our website and product catalogue, as well as to upload 165 maps in the last 2 months. That these maps will now be used more widely can only be beneficial for Respond and the humanitarian community in general’
To find out more about Respond, please visit our website or send us an email.
To find out more about Reuters AlertNet visit their website.
14th March 2008
PDF functionality added to the Respond map catalogue
Following user consultation, Respond has implemented the capability to upload PDF files to their map catalogue. Many users in the field prefer the PDF format for navigating around the image and find it easier to use the jpeg image formats. As part of the production process, high, medium and low resolution images will continue to be produced, with PDF copies being produced in addition. It is anticipated that the back catalogue will be upgraded with this functionality in time.
To view Respond maps please visit our online product catalogue. For further information about Respond please email us.
10th March 2008
All Respond Phase 1 mapping is now online
Respond has now added the entire Phase 1 mapping to the online map catalogue. This totals over 100 new map entries, which are available as low, medium or high resolution jpeg images. They can also be viewed directly as a Google Earth overlay. Full GIS layers are also available for selected regions such as Sumatra. The map catalogue contains over 450 map entries dating back to 2004.
Detailed information about each map entry can be found including satellite date used, map producer, date published, bounding coordinates and other details. Further information, including GIS layers is available upon request to the Respond team.
The first maps from Phase 2 (Rwanda and Congo Earthquake) have now been loaded and are available on the Respond map catalogue.
Detailed search functionality is available to allow the user to search by country, region, date, Respond product type and theme. Alternatively, the whole product catalogue can be opened directly in Google Earth.
A detailed summary of all P1 mapping is available in PDF format.
For further information about Respond, to provide feedback or for further information about any of the mapping products please visit the website or send us an email.
7th March 2008
International Charter activations now available to view in Google Earth
All of the activations of the International Charter have been made available to view as an overlay file in Google Earth.
Further details about the International Charter can be found here.
7 March 2008
Namibia Flooding – Respond partner provides rapid mapping
A severe flood, which started at the end of January and which has continued through to March, has affected southern Angola and northern Namibia. In response to this crisis event, Respond partner UNOSAT has produced rapid mapping over the affected Regions of Omusati, Oshikoto & Oshana, Namibia. Flooded areas have been sorted into 3 classes with estimates for flooded areas per constituency calculated. This type 4 mapping may be downloaded from http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/
Updated News Item 7th March 2008 (originally posted in February)
Update: Full GIS layers are now available for viewing within Google Earth.
SUMATRA: Respond completes comprehensive 1:200,000 mapping over Sumatra Island
Respond partner KeyObs has completed a comprehensive mapping at 1:200,000 over Sumatra Island. This was initially supplied for the International Federation of the Red Cross. It provides an updated overview of the island featuring information on populated places, transportation, hydrographic network and administrative limits.
Full details can be found here.
7th March 2008
Results of Respond partner Jena Optroniks’ thematic mapping study on vegetation dynamics for Niger for the period 2004-2006
The catalogue contains a time series analysis of NDVI products for an area of 5 x 5 km² (mean value filter 5x5 pix) around each of the 44 health stations in Niger together with sub-images 75x75km² (75x75 pixels) of the colored vegetation index maps for each health station. The basis images are Spot – Vegetation VGT-S10 Synthesis products.
The study was performed to provide climate risk estimation for infectious diseases in Niger.
More details can be found in the PDF or by contacting Respond .
5th March 2008
Following the activation of the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters in February, Respond partner SERTIT has been involved in providing Crisis and Damage Mapping. Products delivered under the charter are viewable on the International Charter website under Call ID 193, Reuters AlertNet, SERTIT’s website and on the Respond website
The following 8 products have been produced:
a) South-Kivu and Cyangugu, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda,
- Reference space map, 1:75,000
- Reference space map, 1:25,000
- Reference map with the general population distribution, 1:25,000
- Reference space map, 1:7,500
- Crisis space map, 1 :12,500 (2.86m natural colours merged TOPSAT crisis image)
- Crisis space map, 1 :12,500 (2.5m natural colours merged SPOT5 crisis image)
- Crisis space map, 1:25,000
b) Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Atlas: reference space maps (.pdf file) , 1:10,000
Additional UNOSAT mapping of this crisis is also available on the website above.
11th February 2008
Following the activation of the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters, Respond partner SERTIT has been involved in providing Crisis and Damage Mapping. Products delivered under the charter are viewable both on the International Charter website under Call ID 193 and on Reuters AlertNet. The following products have been produced:
i) Earthquake Zone Reference Map, Scale 1:25.000 – with population distribution
ii) South-Kivu and Cyangugu, Reference Spacemap, Scale 1:25.000
iii) South-Kivu and Cyangugu, Overview Spacemap, scale 1:75.000 – shows earthquake epicentres
iv) Bukavu, Reference Space Map, Scale 1:7.500
Additional UNOSAT mapping of this crisis is also available on the website above.
11th February 2008 – ISVG meets for the first time
An independent service validation group (ISVG) set up to independently review Respond validation activities and their results has met for this first time. The work of the ISVG will complement the existing validation activities already occurring within Respond and will be led by the JRC. More details including member contact details and full responsibilities can be found here.
5th February 2008
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was activated at 23:58 on 5th February following the earthquakes in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Respond partner SERTIT is involved in providing the Crisis and Damage mapping under the coordination of UNOSAT. More details can be found on the International Charter website.
Posted 25th September 2007
UGANDA: Agencies need $43 million to help up to 300,000 people affected by flash floods in a remote region of east Uganda.
Click here to access the Reuters AlertNet website for full details.
Posted 18th September 2007
Severe flooding triggered by heavy rainfall has caused havoc for hundreds of thousands of people across eastern Africa in 2007.
Click here to access the Reuters AlertNet website for details.
Posted 18th September 2007
Fears mount over more African rain and floods -
Fears mounted on Monday that downpours which have killed dozens in Africa, uprooted hundreds of thousands and devastated crops could continue past the end of the rainy season and hit areas that have so far escaped floods.
Click here to access the Reuters AlertNet website for full details.
Posted 18th September 2007
International Federation responds to severe floods in West Africa - Severe floods have been reported in several countries in West Africa causing destruction and chaos in many areas, particularly in Mauritania, Togo, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Nigeria, Niger, Liberia, Gambia, Ivory Coast and Senegal. The adverse weather conditions brought on by the rainy season since July considerably worsened in August, now affecting more than 100,000 people.
Click here to access the Reuters AlertNet website for full details.
Posted 16th March 2007
Floods in Mozambique press release - Click here
(pdf, 17k)
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