Earth Observation for Humanitarian Operations

Large-scale population displacements have ever increased the need for more effective humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian organizations require up-to-date reliable information about the situation on-site. Field-based surveys are often limited in crisis situations due to time or accessibility constraints. Geospatial and Earth observation (EO) technologies have increasingly become popular in the humanitarian community. An EO-based information service was set up for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) which provides dedicated geospatial information products in support of their operations. The core of the service portfolio is population monitoring using dwelling extraction from (multi-temporal) very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery. The service is mainly requested for refugee and IDP (internally displaced people) camps. Additional services on environmental resources, including groundwater, are provided on demand. As of mid-2017, over 350 maps at 60 locations in over 20 countries have been produced.

[1]  Nuala Margaret Cowan.  A geospatial data management framework for humanitarian response , 2011, ISCRAM.

[2]  Edith Rogenhofer,et al.  Monitoring of Refugee and Camps for Internally Displaced Persons Using Sentinel-2 Imagery – A Feasibility Study , 2017 .

[3]  Elisabeth Schoepfer,et al.  Earth observation for humanitarian assistance , 2017 .

[4]  Dirk Tiede,et al.  Earth observation (EO)-based ex post assessment of internally displaced person (IDP) camp evolution and population dynamics in Zam Zam, Darfur , 2010 .

[5]  Xiaoyan Liu,et al.  Supporting humanitarian relief logistics operations through online geocollaborative knowledge management , 2006, DG.O.

[6]  Dirk Tiede,et al.  Earth observation and GIS to support humanitarian operations in refugee/IDP camps , 2015, ISCRAM.

[7]  Deren Li.  An Overview of Earth Observation and Geospatial Information Service , 2010 .

[8]  Jianya Gong,et al.  Geospatial Technology for Earth Observation , 2009 .

[9]  Dirk Tiede,et al.  Can Earth Observation Help to Improve Information on Population , 2009 .

[10]  Thomas Blaschke,et al.  Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis – Towards a new paradigm , 2014, ISPRS journal of photogrammetry and remote sensing : official publication of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

[11]  Russell G. Congalton,et al.  Assessing the accuracy of remotely sensed data : principles and practices , 1998 .

[12]  Stefan Lang,et al.  CMaP – A Collaborative Mapping Platform for Humanitarian Organizations , 2017 .

[13]  Dirk Tiede,et al.  Earth Observation-Based Dwelling Detection Approaches in a Highly Complex Refugee Camp Environment - A Comparative Study , 2014, Remote. Sens..

[14]  S. Lang,et al.  Assessment of environmental changes induced by internally displaced person (IDP) camps in the Darfur region, Sudan, based on multitemporal MODIS data , 2015 .

[15]  Dirk Tiede,et al.  Stratified Template Matching to Support Refugee Camp Analysis in OBIA Workflows , 2017, Remote. Sens..

[16]  S. Lang,et al.  Impact of refugee camps on their environment. A case study using multi-temporal SAR data , 2016 .

[17]  D. Cole,et al.  A systematic review of the application and utility of geographical information systems for exploring disease-disease relationships in paediatric global health research: the case of anaemia and malaria , 2013, International Journal of Health Geographics.

[18]  S. Lang,et al.  Integrated assessment of the environmental impact of an IDP camp in Sudan based on very high resolution multi-temporal satellite imagery , 2012 .

[19]  Stefan Voigt,et al.  Towards semi-automated satellite mapping for humanitarian situational awareness , 2014, IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC 2014).

[20]  Francesco Checchi,et al.  Validity and feasibility of a satellite imagery-based method for rapid estimation of displaced populations , 2013, International Journal of Health Geographics.

[21]  Stefan Voigt,et al.  Satellite Image Analysis for Disaster and Crisis-Management Support , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[22]  Petra Füreder,et al.  Humanitarian emergencies: causes, traits and impacts as observed by remote sensing , 2015 .