About Sentinel Asia

 The Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF)  in 2005 proposed an initiative called "Sentinel Asia", to showcase the value and impact of Earth observation technologies, combined with near-real-time internet dissemination methods and Web-GIS mapping tools for disaster management support in the Asia-Pacific region.

Sentinel Asia aims to:

• improve safety in society through the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) combined with space technologies;
• improve the speed and accuracy of disaster preparedness and early warning;
• minimize the number of victims and social/economic losses resulting from disasters;
• contribute to the establishment of rehabilitation plans.

Many of these goals are possible only through the wide-area and fast response collection of images and other data which can be acquired by Earth observing satellites.

Sentinel Asia is a voluntary and best-efforts-basis initiative led by  the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF)  to share disaster information in near-real-time across the Asia-Pacific region, using primarily the Web-GIS technology. Its architecture is designed to operate initially as an internet-based, node-distributed information distribution backbone, eventually distributing relevant satellite and in situ spatial information on multiple hazards in the Asia-Pacific region.

1. Emergency observation by earth observation satellites in case of major disasters

 Joint Project Team members  or  Asia Disaster Reduction Centre (ADRC) members  are entitled to make emergency observation requests (EORs) to Sentinel Asia.

If necessary, Sentinel Asia can escalate emergency observation request to  the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters” 

2. Capacity Development Since 2007, Sentinel Asia have been organized several capacity development activities such as trainings, workshop, and webinars, etc.

Some of the capacity development materials and past webinars information are available at  here .

3. Working Groups

To accelerate the utilization of satellite-derived products related to disasters by end-users, working groups have been set up within the framework of Sentinel Asia to focus on specific disasters and to include specialists and researchers in each specific field.

Wildfire Working Group: Wildfire Working Group works for the establishment and improvement of early forest fire detection based on G-Portal data, development of forest fire expansion forecasting and serving disaster assessment information to forest fire control agencies.

Water related disaster Working Group: Water related disaster Working Group works for exchanging ideas with regards to water related disasters reduction by using aerospace technology together with ground survey and GIS/Mapping technology especially in the field of flood, land slide, flash flood, drought, storm surge and so on caused by heavy rain, typhoon, tropical cyclone, monsoon and climate change.

Tsunami Working Group: Tsunami Working Group works to contribute for enhancing capabilities of Tsunami disaster management in Asia-Pacific countries. (1) Tsunami Risk Assessment (2) Tsunami Forecasting/Warning (3) Mapping Tsunami Inundation/Impact (4) Tsunami Evacuation Plan (5) Emergency Observation (6) Tsunami Risk Awareness/Education (6) Training Program/capacity building.

Joint Project Team (JPT) To promote Sentinel Asia, the Joint Project Team (JPT) was organized. JPT is open to space community, disaster management organizations (such as  ADRC and its member countries ) and regional/international organizations who wish to participate in disaster information sharing activities (such as  AHA Centre ,  Asian Institute of Technology ,  UNWFP , etc.) .

To check the list of members, please click  here .

What is Data Provider Node? Data Provider Node (DPN) provides their own satellite imagery and/or data to Sentinel Asia upon the emergency observation request to the extent permitted by the data policy of each DPN when disaster happens.

When emergency observation requests are accepted, subject to each DPN availability, the following satellite data will be acquired and provided:

ALOS-2 (JAXA), Resourcesat-2, Cartosat-3 (ISRO), Thaichote (GISTDA), VNREDSat-1A (VAST), TeLEOS-1 (CRISP), KhalifaSat (MBRSC), and FORMOSAT-5 (TASA), and DIWATA-2, NovaSAR-1 (PhilSA).

What is Data Analysis Node? Data Analysis Node analyzes the satellite data provided by DPN, makes damage assessment maps and discloses the result through the Sentinel Asia System within the domestic legislation of each DAN permits.

Sentinel Asia provides various kinds of disaster Assessment Maps.

Especially, Sentinel Asia provides Web-GIS. Web-GIS is a web-based tool for easy browsing of satellite observation data or processed products with your own web browser, requiring only an internet connection. Sentinel Asia Secretariat launched the Web-GIS service for its Joint Project Team (JPT) members in November 2019 and continues to operate the service. When we receive Emergency Observation Requests (EORs), most of the satellite observation data from Data Provider Node (DPN) and all the processed products from Data Analysis Node (DAN) are displayed on Web-GIS. This service has been developed primarily for the benefit of visitors who are not accustomed to satellite imageries or who want to brows Sentinel Asia data at a glance.

Following section introduces some examples by disaster types.

• Blue indicates the detected flood-water
• Through this kind of product, an overview of the flood-affected area can be monitored
• This kind of product will be available within around 1 to 7 days (excluding holidays) of EOR activation

• Web-GIS enables zoom in and out flood-detected areas
• By overlaying potentially damaged areas and maps, it may be possible to determine whether main social infrastructures such as main roads, hospitals, and evacuation shelters are potentially affected or not

 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/a0afee6280ae442dba3699a363d06f0c?item=1 

• Yellow and red indicate areas where there is potential damage
• The color gradient from yellow to red indicates increasingly significant surface change
• Through this kind of product, an overview of the damaged area can be monitored
• This kind of product will be available within around 5 days (excluding holidays) of EOR activation

• Google Earth Pro enables zoom in and out damaged areas
• By overlaying potentially damaged areas and maps, it may be possible to determine whether main social infrastructures such as main roads, hospitals, and evacuation shelters are potentially affected or not
• This kind of product will be available within around 2 days (excluding holidays) of EOR activation

• Web-GIS enables zoom in and out damaged areas
• By overlaying potentially damaged areas and maps, it may be possible to determine whether main social infrastructures such as main roads, hospitals, and evacuation shelters are potentially affected or not

 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/78e00fd34fec4a5c86b1dfae99dc0e75?item=1 

• Yellow and red indicate areas where there is potential damage
• The color gradient from yellow to red indicates increasingly significant surface change
• Through this kind of product, an overview of the damaged area can be monitored

• Google Earth Pro enables zoom in or out of damaged areas
• By overlaying potentially damaged areas and maps, it may be possible to determine whether main social infrastructure such as main roads, hospitals, and evacuation shelters are potentially affected or not

We can provide action-ready information not only for floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions but also following disasters such as landslides, glacier lake outbursts and oil spills.