Orals

Remote sensing and Earth Observations (EO) are used increasingly in the different phases of the risk management and in development cooperation, due to the challenges posed by contemporary issues such as climate change, population pressure and increasingly complex social interactions. EO-based applications have a number of advantages over traditional fieldwork expeditions including safety, the provision a synoptic view of the region of interest, the availability of data extending back several years and, in many cases, cost savings. Fortunately, the advent of new, more powerful sensors and more finely tuned detection algorithms provide the opportunity to image, assess and quantify natural hazards, their consequences, and vulnerable regions, more comprehensively than ever before.
For these reasons, the civil protections, the development agencies and space agencies have now inserted permanently into their programs applications of EO data to risk management. In particular, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) has a permanent working group on Disasters that supports and promotes the use of EO data for Disaster Risk management (DRM). During the preparedness and prevention phase EO revealed, especially in data scarce environments, fundamental for hazard, vulnerability and risk mapping. EO data intervenes both in the emergency forecast and early emergency response, thanks to the potential of rapid mapping. EO data is also increasingly being used for mapping useful information for planning interventions in the recovery phase, giving to managers and emergency officials a wealth of time-continuous information for assessment and analysis of natural hazards, from small to large regions around the globe. In this framework, CEOS has been working from several years on disasters management related to natural hazards (e.g., volcanic, seismic, landslide and flooding ones), including pilots, demonstrators, recovery observatory concepts, Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratory (GSNL) initiatives and multi-hazard management projects.

The session is dedicated to multidisciplinary contributions especially focused on the demonstration of the benefit of the use of EO for the risk management, with an operational user-oriented perspective.
The research presented might focus on:
- Addressed value of EO data in risk/hazard forecasting models (observation of possible precursory events and evaluation of potential predictive capabilities)
- Innovative applications of EO data for rapid mapping.
- Innovative applications of EO data for hazard, vulnerability and risk mapping.
- Innovative applications of EO data for the post-disaster recovery phase.
- Innovative applications in support to disaster risk reduction strategies (eg. landscape planning).
- Development of tools and platforms for assessment and validation of hazard/risk models

The use of different types of remote sensing (e.g. thermal, visual, radar, laser, and/or the fusion of these) might be considered, with an evaluation of their respective pros and cons. Evaluation of current sensors, data capabilities and algorithms will be welcomed, as will suggestions for future sensor considerations, algorithm developments and opportunities for emergency management agency buy-in.
Early stage researchers are strongly encouraged to present their research. Moreover, contributions from international cooperation, such as CEOS and GEO initiatives, are welcome.