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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