Did You Know?

Geospatial data saves lives. During the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, rescue teams used satellite data to rapidly ferry aid to the worst-hit areas.

The Sendai earthquake and tsunami is the first time that multiple space agencies openly provided synthetic aperture radar data for scientific use. The data is already leading to new slip models, providing a major advance in earthquake prediction.

“Captain Calamity Crunches Data for Global Warning System”, says Wired. French geophysicist José Achache, the former Director of Earth Observation at the European Space Agency is leading the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, a 10-year endeavor to link the data-collection technology of 74 countries.

Air pollution in Central America is not going undetected anymore. Since 2008, SERVIR-AIR is using information gathered from NASA and NOAA satellites to warn decision-makers of everything from forest fires or volcanic activity to industrial pollution.

Biodiversity, too, can be analysed from space. The GEO Biodiversity Observation Network boosts biodiversity assessment and conservation by analysing satellite, aerial and in-situ data.

Until EuroSITES came along, a disparate network of uncoordinated technology monitored Europe’s seas. There was no agreed set of variables or data protocols. Today, the data coming from the nine open-ocean observatories in the North Atlantic, the Norwegian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are harmonised. Researchers and policymakers can access the data in near real-time on the Web, anytime they like.