Satellite imagery in support of crisis management
The international role of the European countries in provision of assistance is increasing every year. Both past, but especially recent disasters such as the 2004 South Asia tsunami, the 2005 US hurricanes and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, have shown the growing importance of the effective management of natural and manmade disasters. According to the figures of DG ECHO, although the number of displaced persons in their own country has been stable over the last decades, it still stands at more than 25 million. With the aim of supporting international crisis response mechanisms in Europe through satellite imagery, the European Commission funded Network of Excellence – GMOSS – has organised a one-week near real time exercise based on a fictitious crisis. The main objectives were not only to strengthen integration among the partners and demonstrate the state-of-the-art of technology covered by the GMOSS organizations but also to receive feedback from users on GMOSS methods and technologies. According to a fictitious scenario developed in close cooperation with the relevant European Commission services a refugee camp in the country 'Albenon' has been severely damaged in the course of an armed conflict and refugees escaped to a neighbouring camp. After their return, the disastrous conditions in the camp led to an outbreak of watery diarrhoea and cholera as well as of a severe influenza epidemic affecting the whole camp and spreading into the country. With a view of providing relevant support to the affected country, the European Commission supposedly tasked the GMOSS team to provide, using mainly earth observation and geoinformation sources, detailed decision support information on: • Damage and situation assessment for refugee camps; • Quarantine control; • Safe places, evacuation routes (air, water, land); • Transportation & response facilities; and • Analysis and potential development of situation. Starting on Monday, 15 October, about 18 European research institutes and around 60 scientists have participated in the exercise to provide the requested information. The final reports and maps were presented during a user briefing on 18 October in Brussels to representatives of the European Commission. The feedback from those potential users was highly positive. They appreciated the quality of the analyses produced by the team within only three days. According to them, in a real crisis situation such data could provide a useful information source in particular if combined with on-ground assessments. This meeting was the first of its kind and was an important milestone in bringing together the GMES civil security research and the user communities. The results of the exercise will be further evaluated in November and presented during the final GMOSS workshop in Brussels on 11-12 December 2007. GMOSS is a network of excellence in the aeronautics and space priority of the Sixth Framework Programme with the overall EU project funding of 6 million € for a period of 2004-2008. The project involves 22 partners and is coordinated by DLR (German Aerospace Centre). GMOSS leading mission is to integrate Europe’s civil security research based on Earth Observation. It is financed as one major building block in support of the security dimension of the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security). Further information is available at: http://gmoss.jrc.it , http://www.zki.dlr.de(öffnet in neuem Fenster) and http://www.gmes.info(öffnet in neuem Fenster).