Opportunities for practical Earth
observation applications
European Commission – Side Event
GEO Plenary
Foz do Iguaçu, November 22, 2012
Mark Noort, Faculty ITC, University of Twente
Europe: Global Monitoring of
Environment & Security
Disaster type
Damage / year
(1998 – 2009)
Possible reduction by
using Earth observation
Flooding
4 billion Euro
10 %
Storms
3.7 billion Euro
10 – 50 %
Earthquakes
2.4 billion Euro
positive, not quantified
Extreme temperatures
830 million Euro
positive, not quantified
Forest fires
576 million Euro
positive, not quantified
Drought
411 million Euro
positive, not quantified
Source: ESPI – the socio-economic benefits of GMES
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Why market Earth Observation?
Analogy
mathematics and
earth observation:
applications not
originally intended
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About the
market:
Different projections EO market: 900 million to 1.2 billion
in 2009 to 5 billion euro in 2020???
Services: about 20% of total, defense and law biggest
customers – government is main client
Increases in scientific information do not automatically
create information that is of economic value
Private sector builds on public investment: analogy with
(other) internet services
Economic benefit as returns to an activity over and above
its opportunity costs
Focus on microeconomic approach and reducing
uncertainty in decision making, environmental
externalities, value-adding aspects
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Suppose all these problems are solved:
All public information freely available
No security restrictions
Sensors continuously operational
Discovery, access, use, cost, coherence,
frequency, quality and quantity of data
settled for now and in the future
Open source solutions widely available
Legislative mandates settled
Potential customers know about EO potential
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Group on Earth Observations: coordinates efforts to build the
Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
GEOSS: free and low-cost data and information available to
everybody , easily accessible and compatible for easy use
(common infrastructure)
150+ countries and organizations are members
Structured around tasks to accomplish strategic targets by 2015
Divided in Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs): Disasters, Health, Energy,
Climate, Water, Weather, Ecosystems, Agriculture, Biodiversity
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Marketing as Promotion & Capacity Building
With GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) in place (2015),
most images and datasets are easily accessible and freely
available (or at low cost)
“Non-space countries”: only investment in basic
infrastructure and capacity building is needed
OK, so at the general level there are benefits, but what
happens at the local level?
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• What “we” want:
Funding for GEO / GEOSS activities
• What “they” want:
Practical solutions for concrete problems
• How to avoid the “whatever” default reaction, even if
people are interested: we have no clear view of the
opportunities, there are so many options and it is not
clear to us how the problem is solved (where are the
buttons we can push? & how can we explain?)
• The road to funding of GEO / GEOSS goes through
accepted practical applications of Earth observation
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Overview
Marketing of Earth
Observation Products &
Services (framework
study)
Capacity Building Strategy
Regional Studies (Poland,
Czech Republic, Frenchspeaking Africa, Southern
Africa) + Synthesis
Success Stories, Toolkits,
Roadshow, Quick Win
Projects, Workshops,
Capacity Building Web
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Target Groups
Decision makers
Communities
Professionals
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Disaster management
- categories
Risk assessment / simulation models
Forecasting / early warning
Monitoring
Damage assessment
Prevention / planning
General
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(Natural) disaster types
Volcanic eruptions
Earthquakes
Landslides
Floods
Tsunamis
Droughts
Fires, etc.
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Use case 1: Central American
Probabilistic Risk Assessment
• Review of methodology
• Development of software tools
• Training needs assessment
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RiskCity concept
• Go through all steps
of a risk assessment
• Urban area
• Multi-hazard
• Developing country
• Different
approaches
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Risk City presentation GIS based training package for multi hazard risk assessment for risk
reduction & management.
Article RiskCity: a training package on the use of GIS for urban multi-hazard risk assessment.
www.itc.nl Cees van Westen
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RiskCity methodology
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Example: Flood modeling Naga City, Philippines
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RiskCity exercises
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Introduction to data and software,
Obtaining image data and image interpretation;
Downloading Google Earth data and referencing
Remote sensing
Hazard assessment:
Landslides, Earthquakes, Flooding, Technological
Additional: coastal, tsunami, forest fire, drought, volcanic
Elements at risk
Assuming new data is available: start from Google Earth
Assuming more data available (cadastral, census, DEM)
Loss estimation
Annual loss estimation using risk curves
Qualitative loss estimation using matrices
Spatial Multi Criteria Evaluation
Using indicators for social, physical, economical, environmental
vulnerability and for capacity
Annual loss estimation
Cost benefit analysis
Using risk information in spatial planning
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CAPRA experiences
• Comprehensive, multidisciplinary technology:
develop more in-depth training package
• Regional training courses
• Development of case studies
• Support of university networks
• Long-term capacity building needed
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Use case 2: Fire early warning and
monitoring South Africa
Online detection of fires and occurrences of fire per year
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Advanced Fire Information System
(AFIS)
• Primary sponsorship by ESKOM, power utility and
electricity provider for South Africa
• Near-real time broadcasts from 15 minute interval
satellite passes
• Detection of fires as small as 50m X 50m area
• Fire detection rate of about 65% of all fires in South
Africa
• SMS alert notification to fire managers
• Supplies several warnings to fire protection
associations in South Africa
• Expansion of service to SADC region countries
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Use case 3: Community participation
early warning – Mozambique &
Philippines
Community meeting in Mozambique
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Community vulnerability map, Mozambique
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Elevated school in Maniquenique, Mozambique
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Colored warning charts Philippines
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525 mm precipitation in 24 hrs ‘Juan’
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2050: 292 mm in 3 days, 22 cm seal level rise, 16 %
more rain
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Community participation
• SMS warning messages to community leaders
• Training on flood and drought forecasting, early
warning and monitoring at the central level
• Integrated land and water management plan
• Building techniques and other measures
• Substantial time and effort needed for
participatory planning approach
• Local teams need to acquire skills
• Relative high cost in remote areas
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Disaster Management (other examples)
• Floods in Poland and Czech Republic
• Sensor webs for land slides Taiwan
• Sensor webs for flood early warning Germany /
Brazil
• Risk assessment coastal cities Northern Africa
• International Charter to make satellite images
available for free after a disaster
• Drought (& ecological) monitoring OSS: circumSaharan area
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WATER
Decision making
“We can only manage what we measure”
Water cycle: water resources availability and
quality for
- Economic development
- Green economy
- Poverty reduction
- Community empowerment
- Risk management
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Water Resources Management
Categories of products and services
Hydrologic information systems
Soil moisture modeling
Drought monitoring / early warning
Monsoon monitoring / forecasting
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Use case 4: capacity building in EO for
water resources management in Africa
• Basic earth observation education, provided
via distance learning
• Advanced short courses, focused on selected
earth observation techniques
• Applied short courses, tailored to the research
interest and technical background of the
participants
• Research supervision, provided by earth
observation specialists at
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Number of participants in courses from 2006 - 2012
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Distribution of research test areas among the TIGER
projects
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Steps for Earth observation supported water
resource management
1. Land use and land cover mapping + change monitoring
2. Water abstraction estimate in respect of crop water demand
estimates for irrigated areas
3. Refined land use / land cover mapping
4. Surface water bodies or water pools (location, extent, dynamics)
5. Digital elevation models and derived products
6. Estimates of basin-wide evapotranspiration and precipitation
7. Water and vegetation monitoring (entire aquifer)
8. Ground subsidence monitoring and its correlation with
groundwater abstraction
From:
Application of satellite remote sensing to support water resources management in
Africa: results from the TIGER initiative
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Capacity building in earth observation
for water resources management in
Africa
• Increased capacity for research and problemsolving
• Promotion of integrated approach for water
resources management
• Much more input needed to create real impact
• Address sustainability by making data and images
available freely or at low-cost and create /
maintain research infrastructure
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Use case 5: Water resources
assessment, Tibetan plateau
Source of some of the largest rivers of the world, but very little
quantitative information on water balance and long-term trends
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Evapotranspiration estimates from time-series
of satellite images + in-situ measurements
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Result: water & energy balance modeling as
input for decision-making (climate change)
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Water resources management:
Tibetan Plateau
• Result: more insight in water and energy
balance, also in remote areas
• Research cooperation European partners and
China
• Combination earth observation and in-situ
measurements
• Opportunity: well-informed decision-making
on adaptation to climate change
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Use case 6: community mapping for
drinking water in East Africa
Communities map their access to drinking water…
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and indicate the level of service…
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which is further analyzed and used for decisionmaking
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Google H2O: community mapping
• Result: more insight in actual water and
sanitation situation in areas with difficult
access (remote or unsafe)
• Supported by Google and UN-HABITAT
• Wide range of other applications possible
• Low-cost, training needed
• Opportunity: community empowerment
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Water Resources Management
(other examples)
• Improving parameters for curve-number method
– Czech Republic
• Availability of global datasets – GRDC
• Water & energy balance information - GEWEX
• Drought monitoring
• Getting information to the farmer: e-Leaf,
GEONETCast
• Index-based insurance for agriculture
• Wetland management - Poland
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Conclusions & Recommendations:
Benefit from public investment in space: only
small investment in infrastructure and capacity
building needed
Benefit from GEOSS Common Infrastructure
Focus on customer value propositions, strategic
capitalism -> green economy
Measure impact: qualitative, quantitative,
monetary
Dialogue between government, scientists and
private sector
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Thank you
www.itc.nl
www.geonetcab.eu
Mark Noort: m.noort@itc.nl
m.noort@hcpinternational.com
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