United Nations
Hurricanes and Disaster Monitoring Constellations
The dominant space technology that supports energy and Earth resources is remote sensing. Remote sensing images are not limited to the wavelengths of light that can be seen by the…
Disaster Charter Provides Timely Imagery to Response Teams
One of the key challenges in a flood involves getting timely and accurate information regarding flood-affected areas. Satellite imagery can mitigate the magnitude of flood damage by providing response teams…
Tagging Disaster Areas in Satellite Imagery
Scandicraft, a Norwegian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) service provider, has developed a system that “geotags,” or marks the physical location of, aerial images from a disaster area and uploads the…
Poppies Just Look Different from Space
Since 1999, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime has made extensive use of satellite imagery in its Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme (ICPM), helping national governments and the international community…
Telecommunications Support For Disaster Relief Efforts
In the hours and days after a natural disaster occurs, satellite communications serve a vital role in coordinating humanitarian response when terrestrial communications systems are overwhelmed with heavy call traffic…
Solving Territorial Claims with Geographic Information Systems
The U.N. is also using GIS to help resolve disputes over the location of international boundaries. The U.N. Cartographic Section is developing the U.N. International Boundary Information System (UNIBIS), a…
Coordinating Peacekeeping Through Space
As of the end of 2010, 13 U.N. peacekeeping missions around the world use systems that integrate location information with satellite imagery, referred to as geographic information systems (GIS), as…
Woodchoppers Fall: Catching North Korean Illegal Logging Operations
In May 2010, a researcher at Purdue University used a combination of NASA satellite imagery and information from Google Earth to determine that North Korea was conducting illegal logging operations…
Protecting Global Heritage with Open Initiative
The Open Initiative on the Use of Space Technologies to Support the World Heritage Convention is a program sponsored by ESA and the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).…
Mapping “Hot Spots” to Fight Fires
The same wide perspective that allows satellites to track the effects of an insect infestation helps forest managers and emergency response agencies to monitor and respond to forest and wildfires.…
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