• Supporting geohazards users with Cloud-based EO services

In the first decade of the 21st century, earthquakes accounted for 60 percent of deaths from natural disasters, according to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). By 2050, the number of people exposed to storms and earthquakes in large cities could double, underlining the need for better geohazard-related information for improved disaster risk management. Earth observation satellites have a major role to play in contributing to the understanding, mitigation, preparedness and management of geophysical risks. EO satellites offer timely sensing of wide areas in a cost effective manner, for a variety of measurements such as precise terrain motion, thermal energy release, surface changes at and around hazard areas.

• Objectives and approach

Working together with the research community and industry, Geohazards Exploitation Platform provides an application development and processing platform using EO to support geohazard risk management. The Geohazards Exploitation Platform allows both on demand processing for specific user needs and systematic processing to address common information needs of the geohazards community as a whole, as well as massive processing on the Cloud. To exploit the geo-information generated, the Platform leverages open APIs for the integration of interactive processing and post-processing services and enables users to exploit and share satellite-based measurements, improving the understanding and investigation of hazards.