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The Geohazards Observations Theme has been approved by the partners
Background
The societal impact of geohazards is enormous. Every year they claim
thousands of lives, injure many thousands more, devastate peoples’
homes and destroy their livelihoods. The cost in terms of damaged infrastructure
runs into the billions in any currency and is taken higher still by insurance
premiums. They affect the rich and the poor alike, but with a disproportionate
impact on the developing world. As the human population increases and
more people live in hazardous areas, this impact grows at an unsustainable
rate. It must be reduced and that requires an increased understanding
of the hazards and better ways to manage them.
In response to this critical situation, the IGOS Partners developed a
Geohazards Theme. This Theme defined a strategy to map, monitor, mitigate
and predict earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and subsidence. The goal
is to provide decision makers with timely, reliable and cost-effective
information, in order to increase the capacity of all nations to be resilient
in the face of geohazards. These inter-related disasters are all driven
directly by geological processes and share ground deformation as a common
thread. This means that they can be addressed using similar technology
and understood using related scientific modelling processes. The proposal
thus provides a unique, integrated global geoscience theme for IGOS, filling
key gaps that are not covered by the International Charter or the UN Action
Team.
Objectives
The goal of the Geohazards IGOS is to integrate disparate, multidisciplinary, applied research into global, operational systems by filling gaps in organization, observation and knowledge over the next decade. The pursuit of this goal will improve the provision of timely, reliable and cost-effective information to those responsible for managing these hazards and increase the capacity of all nations to be resilient in the face of the related disasters.
The strategy addresses the mapping, monitoring, forecasting and related preparedness activities needed to underpin crisis response, via the provision of critical information products to be used by the agencies involved in disaster management initiatives. Addressing this goal will fill key gaps in the provision of long-term observations and in a number of integration issues that are not covered by the `disaster response system set up under the international Charter on Space and Major Disaster or the United Nations(UN) Action Team on Disaster Management.
The strategy identifies four main strategic objectives
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Building capacity: engage and build the global geohazards community,
so as to achieve the best from the human as well as the technological
resources available to address the geohazards, ensuring that users
needs are fully explored, understood, documented and acted on; |
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Observations: put in place systems to deliver reliable, cost-effective
and sustainable satellite and ground-based observations that make
best use of existing tools, help define and take advantage of emerging
technologies and meet the observational needs of the geohazards
user community globally; |
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Integration: ensure that end users and scientists work together
to define information needs, extract the maximum value from existing,
planned and future observations by using EO and ground-based systems
in concert, and developed Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and
modeling technologies that integrate these data into geohazards
information products that meet the stated needs; and |
|
Promotion: develop education, sharing of data and information,
knowledge and know-how, global databases and networks, and knowledge
and skills transfer to the developing world, thereby increasing
the capacity of all countries to manage risk related to geohazards. |
Approach
An action plan is proposed to address the objectives in the short, medium and long term over the next ten years. Capacity building will be undertaken by strengthening the Geological Applications of Remote Sensing (GARS) Programme with space agency participation, to create a coordinating mechanism for implementing the Geohazards IGOS. A review will be conducted to identify accelerated exploitation routes for existing observations, for example by securing the release of existing global topographic datasets. It is important that continuity is achieved and maintained for the four key observations identified above. Continuity within existing C-band radar satellite missions has demonstrated the utility of interferometry for measuring deformation over bare surfaces. In the long term, a programme must be established to deliver continuity of L-band interferometry, so that this can be extended to vegetated surfaces.
On the ground, attention should be paid to the provision of increased coverage and density of seismic networks. Integration will be taken forward by projects designed to release the synergy from coupling such synoptic and periodic observations from space with detailed, continuous point observations on the ground, like those offered by networks of Global Positioning System receivers. These projects require a range of disciplines to work together using modelling and visualization tools, providing other kinds of integration. The results will be disseminated using workshops, publications and the internet in order to spread best practice. Geohazards databases containing ‘strategic datasets’ will be promoted and mechanisms for sharing data, information and knowledge on an operational basis streamlined. Curricula will be designated to generate new training course, extending capacity building to the developing world promoting knowledge and technology transfer.
Beneficiaries
The strategy is aimed primarily at the international geohazards user community, especially scientists working in monitoring and advisory agencies (e.g. volcano observatories, geological surveys, seismic networks) who turn the observations into information products. The strategy also pays close attention to the end user in responsible authorities managing geohazards on a daily basis, to the research scientists developing the underpinning knowledge base and finally to the IGOS partners and other making the observations. It is based on society’s need to reduce the impact of geohazards on lives, property and economies over the long term. Assessment will be made against individual objectives during the lifetime of the strategy but ultimately it must be judged against the following criteria; has it saved lives, reduced damage to infrastructure and saved money, thereby limiting the impact of geohazards on society as a whole.
Status
The Geohazards theme was initiated and scoped in 2001 by UNESCO, CEOS and ICSU. An ad-hoc Working Group was formed, held an international Workshop, and delivered a proposal to IGOS P9 in June 2002. A Theme Team with BGS-ESA-UNESCO co-Chairs and ESA-supported Secretariat was set up in summer 2002. The Theme Report was delivered in May 2003 for comment and endorsement at IGOS-P10 in June 2003. It received provisional endorsement at IGOS P10 in June 2003. It received provisional endorsement, with full acceptance being subject to the Team’s planned consultation during summer 2003 of the wid e and dispersed international geohazards community, which is mainly external to the IGOS partnership. The report was finally approved by IGOS partners in November 2003.
Membership
British Georogical Survey (BGS) (Lead)
British National Space Center (BNSC/CEOS)
Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres (BRGM)
Canadian Center for Remote Sensing (CCRS/CEOS)
Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES/CEOS)
Consiglio Nazionaledelle Ricerche (CNR)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Deutsche MontanTechnologie (DMT)
European Space Agency (ESA/CEOS) (Lead)
Geological Applications of Remote Sensing (GARS) Programme
International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation
(ITC)
Musée Royal de lÁfrique centrale (MRAC)
Nigel Press Associates (NPA)
Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
(Lead)
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
Universita’della Basilicata
Universitat Bonn
Further Information
Contact: Geohazards Secretariat (IGOS@esa.int)
Report
- October 2003 - 2,469kb
Poster
- 111kb
Presentation
- April 2004 - 5,655kb
