UNOSAT
Satellite imagery for all

In two small bungalows located at the far end of a CERN parking lot several UN staff are working intensively towards an ambitious goal: to provide satellite imagery and geographic information to the UN humanitarian community in the most straightforward, efficient and cost-effective manner possible. Indeed, CERN is where the Web was born and a top world IT leader that put its powerful IT platform, established to run the new Large Hydron Condenser, the world most advanced research tool for particle physics, at the service of the humanitarian community.

UNOSAT is a single point of entry, or a “one-stop-shop” for facilitating the use of satellite imagery in combination with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in UN programs. UNITAR has entrusted the implementation of this project to UNOPS.

Information revolution in the UN

Although the UN with its wide range of mandates and various areas of applications has had the possibility to benefit from these extremely useful information sources, the use of satellite imagery is in general not fully integrated in its programs and activities. Some of the causes for this are not only related to its relatively high cost, technical nature of the data and specialized know-how on how to benefit from this information, but also that the UN in general is not fully aware of recent developments in the Earth Observation (EO) business. For example, imagery with a high level of detail that six years ago was reserved only for the military is now publicly available. The amount of details possible to see in an image, or “image-resolution” in tech-parlor, has increased hundred-fold, opening up for a revolution in the way the UN plans and implements projects, in particular in developing countries. “Looking at the field projects that UNOPS implements in the field on behalf of many UN agencies, particularly in crisis countries, we saw a clear need for a single point of entry for this type of service”, says Alain Retiere (UNOPS), project director of UNOSAT. “Even when our colleagues knew what they needed in terms of geographic products, they did not know how to get it. The use of satellite imagery can be very cost- effective and often the only source of information when assessing for example recent environmental changes in remote areas or human settlement patterns after conflict or natural disaster.”

Changing the way diplomacy works What, then, are the consequences from this information-revolution of combining detailed satellite imagery with global rapid access to the public? “Clearly it has an effect on the way diplomacy will be carried out in the future”, says Einar Bjorgo (UNOSAT). The political decision- making processes will have to change as individual states with powerful military reconnaissance satellites no longer have monopoly on detailed and rapidly available information. Furthermore, UN agencies, non-govern- mental organizations and the media have access to similar level of information as the various military and foreign affairs ministries, thereby forcing a transparency in the way international diplomacy works. The general public is for example daily fed with detailed satellite imagery over places of news interest, such as in Iraq. One can freely access imagery showing the recent landslide in Colombia or effects of coalition forces bombings in Iraq. The so- called “Information Age” has there- fore already made the international political arena more complex and governments must employ people with more varying backgrounds, from environmentalists to technical specialists within their standard Diplomatic Corps to grasp the immense flow of information that need to be analyzed prior to political decisions. Meanwhile, the UNOSAT staff makes sure that the UN can access cutting edge technology and data sources to more cost-effectively carry out its mandates.

Common needs

Although the UN agencies work within their specialized fields, there is a common need for basic map- products and geographic information services. Few developing countries can afford high-cost country wide geographical surveys, but through the use of recently acquired satellite imagery, standard satellite-maps can easily be developed at a scale useful to both local authorities and UN agencies. According to Retiere, “it has been a misconception among many providers of geographic information, in particular satellite imagery, that products necessarily need to be extremely accurate and complex. What we find is that for many end- users, who have absolutely no data to start with, simple off-the-shelve products derived from satellite imagery are very useful. There is no need for complex and costly surveys if the requirements are for simple products.”

Global Access for Local Use

As one of a few new initiatives following the recommendations by the Secretary General to develop partner- ships between the UN System and the private sector, UNOSAT has already successfully delivered its first products to users such as the UN Develop- ment Programme (UNDP), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the local governments of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, and Bekaa, Lebanon. “Being located in Geneva is ideal for us” says Retiere. “Many of the operational branches of the UN are head- quartered here, and the central location in Europe – where you can start working for Asia in the morning and end with the Americas in the evening - facilitates smooth relationships with a range of users and data providers, not to mention the Internet-hosting at CERN.” Jocelyn Fenard, UNITAR, in charge of developing the Internet- based user-interface and training capabilities for UNOSAT, underscores the importance of quick access to UNOSAT’s services. “We put great efforts into developing a website where our users can easily locate their area of interest and search for existing data that can be downloaded instantly. That way, the end-users will get the information they need when they need it, not having to wait for several weeks, which was the case in the old days of EO data distribution. Although UNOSAT provides data globally, the applications are very much local in nature, which also means that when applicable we ensure local staff is well trained to continue working with the data once the international experts pull out.”

Tools and techniques

Thanks to new software technology, such as the Image Web Server and the use of CERN’s high-speed Internet connectivity, UNOSAT users will be able to select their specific area of interest, be it a small village in Afghanistan or the whole Middle East, and rapidly access the geographic information available in UNOSAT’s shelves. Olivier Senegas (UNOSAT) emphasizes, “the Image Web Server allows global easy access to satellite imagery and other types of geographic information, anytime and anywhere. UNOSAT-integrated new techniques are now available to com- press imagery and data to such small files that even users with poor Internet connections will be able to benefit from our service.” UNOSAT works closely with its users to make sure their requirements are well understood prior to assessing which type of satellite imagery and ancillary information should be collected. Satellite imagery needs to be recorded in a Geographic Information System prior to embarking on the so-called “value adding” task. Once images have been analyzed and interpreted, the parameters of interest, such as forest cover or flooded plains, can be quantified and final satellite image value added maps can be sent to the end users. With the wide range of commercial observation satellites now in orbit, a single image can cover areas ranging from squares of 2,400 km x 2,400 km (size of Western Continental Europe) at a level of detail of 1 km, to smaller areas of 10 km x 10 km (size of city of Geneva) at a resolution of 1 m. That means that the most detailed imagery available to the public can easily display individual vehicles, small houses and even a group of golfers standing on the tee!

UNOSAT has negotiated highly discounted prices for satellite imagery to the UN community. In addition, new data can in some instances be delivered within days should e.g. an emergency require such speedy distribution. For example, the UNOSAT partners SPOT Image and Space Imaging Eurasia, can acquire a satellite image of the Middle East and deliver this to UNOSAT within 24 hours. This means that the end-user can get information on a remote area where a disaster has occurred within one to a few days, pending on the amount of image analysis required.

With UNOSAT, UNITAR and UNOPS are teaming with energy and enthusiasm to make their expertise and capacity available for the United Nations’ humanitarian and development activities, in particular to our colleagues in the field, often deployed in remote areas facing adverse circumstances, but also their local counter- parts who will capitalize on the use of remote sensing and GIS in managing their natural, financial and human resources in a more sustainable man- ner, when the crisis is over.

UNOSAT Mission Statement

UNOSAT is a United Nations initiative aiming to expand direct access to satellite imagery through the Internet and other multimedia tools.

UNOSAT’s overall goal is to facilitate physical planning and programme implementation by local authorities, project managers and field personnel, working in emergency response, disaster management, risk prevention, peace-keeping, environmental rehabilitation, post conflict reconstruction and social and economic development.

UNOSAT is a UNITAR project exe- cuted by UNOPS relying on a UN-Private consortium established in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), the French Space Agency (CNES), the European Organization for Particles Physics (CERN), SPOT Image, Space Imaging Eurasia and value-adding companies Digitech Int. and Gamma Remote Sensing.

For further information, please e-mail alainr@unops.org or visit the website www.unosat.org.

Featured picture (Ikonos image of Geneva from SI Eurasia) text

To demonstrate the level of details possible to view in these commercially available images, the featured image shows several familiar details for inter- national staff in Geneva, such as Palais des Nations, the Broken Chair, International Federation of the Red Cross, World Intellectual Property Organization, International Telecommunication Union, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Meteorological Organization. Note how even individual trees in the Palais des Nations park as well as small vehicles on parking lots can be easily seen in the image.

Image copyright : Space Imaging Eurasia