Earth Observation for Humanitarian Operations. GI_Forum|GI_Forum 2015 – Geospatial Minds for Society|

Abstract

The protraction of crises, civil wars, and conflicts cause countless humanitarian disasters, on the level of individuals, families, and society as a whole. Technological innovation, including the optimisation of information flows in crisis situations, is a critical asset in the humanitarian domain, while the ultimate benchmark of the usefulness of any new ‘gadget’ will be its effectiveness on the ground, and the very fact of whether it saves lives in the long run. Humanitarian aid organizations do play a critical role in this respect; they are the ones to adopt, test, improve, and further develop any new technology, in close collaboration with those providing it. Over recent years, projects and initiatives have been brought up, where research institutions and humanitarian actors share both technological and practical experience in mutual exchange. Satellite Earth observation (EO) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) were recently adopted by the humanitarian action community to cope with these challenges, and to close the information gap. The special session EO4Hum focuses on the potential of EO data and technologies to support humanitarian action in crisis and disaster response. Turning satellite data into relevant geospatial information products for humanitarian actors remains a great challenge therein