The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) is part of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), with a mandate to provide United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies with satellite analysis, training and capacity development, at their request, as well as to support Member States with satellite imagery analysis over their respective territories and to provide training and capacity development in the use of geospatial information technologies.
Since 2001, UNOSAT has provided the United Nations system with access to satellite imagery and satellite-derived analysis through the development and provision of Earth Observation and GIS applications. The programme has spearheaded the use of these technologies in various fields of application, namely for emergency response, disaster risk reduction, peace and security, but also for the protection of cultural heritage and monitoring and evaluation of development projects. Since 2005, UNOSAT also provides training and capacity development activities, for humanitarian relief and human security, human rights, crisis management and prevention, recovery and development, in alignment with its commitment towards supporting the Sustainable Development Goals.
All of these activities are dedicated to serve a central vision: the promotion of evidence-based decision making for peace, security and resilience. UNOSAT's goal is thus to make satellite solutions and geographic information easily accessible to the UN family and experts worldwide, with a professional commitment to producing concrete, tangible and usable results in every activity.
The increase in disaster occurrences and the high numbers of victims resulting from conflicts and major disaster events are urgent issues that require effective and rapid action. Through its Humanitarian Rapid Mapping service, UNOSAT has brought the power of satellite imagery analysis to various disaster management authorities since 2003. With a 24/7 year-round availability to process requests, the team of experienced analysts ensure timely and tailored delivery of satellite imagery derived maps, reports and data ready for direct inclusion in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for evidence based decision making and operational planning.
The ability of national and regional authorities to seamlessly collect, integrate and analyze geospatial information in a comprehensible and easy to use format is key to enhancing their climate resilience. Thanks its extensive data library, UNOSAT was able to design, develop, and deploy deep learning models applied to satellite imagery for humanitarian assistance and disaster response. Currently operational for flood events, the UNOSAT AI pipeline focuses on a specific area and collects, processes, and analyzes imagery automatically, with minimal human intervention. So far, it has been deployed for several activations in flood-prone countries such as Nepal, Thailand, Mozambique, Malawi, and Bangladesh. For instance, the 2021 monsoon season affected a large part of the country. A dedicated Flood AI Dashboard was developed by UNOSAT to monitor the flood situation and give national authorities and UN agencies access to up-to-date, satellite-derived information. Evidence-based information provided by UNOSAT was very useful to support flood response operations as the humanitarian access in the affected areas was critical. Another UNOSAT Flood AI Dashboard was deployed a year later to monitor the floods caused by this year's monsoon season.
Strengthening national and regional authorities' capacities is highly important to enhance disaster and climate resilience. UNOSAT has been implementing activities in several countries: for example, the CommonSensing project provided Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands with training activities and tailored technical solutions integrating Earth Observation technologies to improve disaster risk management and access to climate finance. The same approach is now being duplicated and extended by UNOSAT to other countries in Asia-Pacific and Africa. Thanks to technical backstopping activities, the development of tailored decision support application and the support of in-country experts, the target countries will be able to leverage geospatial information technologies for disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, environmental preservation and food security.