Foreign news

Chinese scientists generate Turkish earthquake relief analysis for UN

Published

2 years ago

February 15, 2023

The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) has activated its emergency mapping service in quake-hit areas in Türkiye to aid relief efforts.

A research team from central China’s Wuhan University was invited to map the lights in the areas at night using remote sensing data to help better analyze disaster situations in different areas and allocate relief resources.

Li Xi, a professor at the State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing at Wuhan University, together with his team, provided remote sensing data of the quake-hit areas to UNOSAT.

The initial assessment results, disrupted by rain and snow, show that the lighting reduction ratio is over 90 percent, 50 percent and 70 percent in Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman, respectively.

The results indicate that the power and other infrastructure losses in the disaster-stricken areas are serious.

“In the past, it was generally believed that the closer the area was to the epicenter, the greater the loss. In fact, this did not take into account the different disaster resistance capabilities of different areas,” said Li.

The changes in the lights can directly reflect the scale of damage in different cities and can be used to assess disaster resistance capabilities. In the case of resource shortages, it can play an important role in the formulation of more targeted rescue strategies, Li added.

Generating data via satellites

Li’s team analyzed satellite data, which is updated every day, combining macro and micro observations. They used China’s high-resolution satellites to carry out the high-precision monitoring of lights in affected areas at night.

Earth science satellite SDGSAT-1, developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provided pre-disaster data for researchers to compare with the post-disaster conditions.

In addition, commercial space telescope Yangwang-1, developed by Origin Space Technology Co., Ltd., and micro-nano satellite QMX-1, developed by Wuhan University, have been employed.

Besides observing lights through high-resolution satellites at night, the team also took help from Suomi-NPP, a U.S. meteorological satellite, to obtain data with longer timeframe and broader range, and to analyze the light trends.

The team reported analysis results to UNOSAT, the World Food Program and other agencies. The results could be used to help formulate relief policies and monitor the progress of post-disaster reconstruction.

“The data may help policymakers analyze the disaster situations in different areas and allocate relief resources better,” Li said.

“We’ve been involved since the day after the earthquakes, and we will be tracking and observing the area for the coming months or even years.”

Team mission

Currently, Li’s team and UNOSAT are collaborating under the pilot initiative “Night-Time Light Remote Sensing for Sustainable Development Goals” from the Group on Earth Observations.

The initiative aims to quantify the progress of several indexes related to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals using night-time light data.

Since 2012, Li’s team has been engaged in the research field of luminous remote sensing, assessing impact of humanitarian disasters with related data.

Their previous researches in Syria, Yemen and other places have proved that changes in nighttime lights can be used to assess humanitarian disasters efficiently, serving the United Nations Security Council and other agencies for multiple times.

(With input from Xinhua)

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Foreign news

EU Cautiously optimistic on Syria engagement – Official

Published

7 days ago

January 28, 2025

The Gleamer

Irish foreign minister Simon Harris said on Monday that the European Union (EU) “is cautiously optimistic on Syria engagement” but called for more deeper engagement to strengthen relations with the country.

Harris said this at a news conference held at the EU Headquarters in Brussels, the Belgian capital.
“It’s early days, but I think there are signs of optimism. But it is important that we continue to engage.

“I don’t think it would be a good scenario if any other geopolitical actors and forces engage with Syria and for the European Union not to be in a position to intensively engage with them,“ he said.

In her remarks, Ms. Kaja Kallas, the Vice-President of the EU described Syria’s future as fragile but said that the bloc needed to take the right steps.
“But of course, we need to see the right steps as well. Right now, they’re saying all the right words, and they are doing also the right things.

“Therefore, we have this set step-for-step approach, and if they take the steps, then we are willing to take the steps as well,’’ she said.

On the war in Gaza, Harris said President Donald Trump and his team are very much a party to the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas after the intensive work that was put in.

He conceded that the Trump administration put in a lot of effort to arrive at a ceasefire agreement in the days before his assumption of office for a return to the White House.

“I think that was important and there is no doubt that the intensive work invested by the Trump administration played a very significant role in helping to bring about a ceasefire – a ceasefire that has now seen a cessation of hostilities, the killing, and the bombings.

“Also, that has seen the flow and has seen hostages being released. It’s really important that the ceasefire is in place.

“It is also important, though, to acknowledge in that ceasefire agreement itself, it does talk about people being able to return, and therefore, I think it’s important that we’re consistent in the approach that we take.

“The priority, I think, needs to be on implementing to the letter, the ceasefire agreement.”

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