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5. Development of better data compression tools suitable for 
EO data should be considered and be made available for 
public domain. Here, the creation of (perhaps much less 
sophisticated) alternatives to existing nets - especially, 
suitable for developing countries and for disaster conditions 
- should be envisaged, too. 
6. Another effect of CEO, in collaboration with the IDNDR 
secretary and other international institutions like the IAF 
committee on space and natural hazards reduction, might be 
the stimulation of a political discussion leading to the 
creation of interest in using satellite EO data for disaster 
management. 
5 OUTLOOK 
The utilisation of space technology for disaster management 
will lead to improvements in all phases of disasters. 
Nevertheless, at the moment available space technologies do yet 
not fulfil the requirements of the civil protection organisations 
completely. In addition, these organisations currently do not yet 
know how to use them and are not yet aware of the capabilities 
of space technology. One of the main objectives of future 
activities therefore should be to increase the interest of users on 
space technologies on the one hand and to improve the service 
that can be provided by space systems on the other hand. 
Real time pilot projects on an operational scale should be 
performed, including the users, the data providers and the value 
adding companies in a real disaster case. Training, education 
and more public relation work to promote the use of satellite 
Earth observation images in general and for disaster 
management in detail is needed. All types of potential users 
should be educated and trained in the use of Earth observation 
images and their capabilities as young as possible (e.g. schools, 
universities). CEO could play a vital role in these education and 
public relation task. 
CEO and EOFIND could become a major part of the whole 
complex system that is required for effective disaster 
management. The next steps in the direction of a European 
disaster management system based on satellite Earth 
observation could look like: 
m Establishment of a database linked to data providers and 
users, providing historical data of disaster prone areas and an 
expert system (this could became part of an operational 
EWSE), with links to international disaster networks. 
Emphasis has to be put on and time has to be invested in 
developing the market for satellite EO products in disaster 
management. The market - that means the potential 
customers - have been informed and attracted by EOFIND. 
Further implementation steps are now necessary to foster the 
market and increase the need. 
M The contacts achieved during EOFIND to several insurance 
and reinsurance companies led into intensive discussions 
about the use of EO data for their premises. This brought up 
the idea of small pilot projects during real disasters in the 
next future where the insurance companies (commercial 
users) work close together with a VA-company and a data 
provider. In the following scenarios the respective insurance 
companies already committed their participation in a pilot 
study: 
» The contacts achieved during EOFIND to various 
disaster management organisations could be intensified 
in the future by involving these organisations in small, 
real-time, pilot projects, e.g. during the next flood in 
Europe. The organisations showed big interest in using 
satellite EO data but were very reluctant with regard to 
time and budget required. Therefore, a solution how to 
finance such implementation projects has to be found. 
= In order to enhance the acceptance of EO in the disaster 
management and to reduce the reluctance in using EO 
data, training courses and workshops should be 
organised in the frame of education programmes. A new 
technique or product is better accepted if it the user gets 
confidence by understanding the new product. 
Therefore basic skills in remote sensing and information 
networks on INTERNET have to be taught. A training 
on the job e.g. for students of the humanitarian aid, 
which would enable them to produce EO-products on 
their own for disaster management tasks might be a 
suggestion. 
» The contacts achieved through CEO to the THW led to 
the idea of an one day information event on what EO 
data could contribute for disaster management and how 
to find related information. Next to remote sensing 
examples, the enabling services of CEO would be 
demonstrated and the participants should use EWSE to 
find their required information. Despite the fact, that 
THW is aware of the existence of the EWSE, a training 
course on how to use the EWSE is required to 
overcome the technical barriers for non experienced 
INTERNET users. 
» The European Association of Fire Brigades is willing to 
cooperate, if the obstacles of timeliness and data 
availability can be overcome. There was high interest to 
learn more about modern EO data and information 
technology. It is already discussed to organise an 
international workshop, e.g. in the flood proned area of 
the Rhine-Waal, where Germany, Belgium and the 
Netherlands frequently suffer from flood impacts. Here, 
the firebrigades and the executive level should be 
informed in order to prepare this market and familiarize 
it with the new technology. 
m Considering the fact, that in-situ data on ground will never 
become obsolete (at least for ground truthing) and that a 
combination of remotely sensed synoptical data with sampled 
point measurements will improve significantly all relief 
actions, sophisticated tools have to be created to combine 
both ways of data collection in an optimal manner. 
Supporting such a model Kayser-Threde is currently 
developing a field GIS for DG VI to support the European 
agricultural policy. The Computer Aided Data Collection 
System (CADCOS) is based on a Differential GPS (DGPS) 
linked to a pentop computer with sophisticated GIS-software 
for data assessment with high geometric accuracy. This 
system can be modified towards a field equipment suitable 
for catastrophic events. It would support the mapping process 
showing for example digital maps and the current position. It 
also offers tools for map manipulation and on-line help 
functions as well as online connections to remote control 
centers for information dissemination and for security 
reasons. During EOFIND we started discussions with fire 
brigades as well as with insurance companies to use this tool 
for their daily work with encouraging response. 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B2. Vienna 1996