10 June 2024 (online)
On 10 June 2024, an online meeting was held for the United Nations Platform for Space-Based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) Regional Support Office (RSO). UN-SPIDER is a multilateral platform promoted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to facilitate the use of space-based technologies in disaster risk reduction and emergency response. UNOOSA is the UN agency responsible for space-related policies, and is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. (The RSO supports the UN-SPIDER program at a regional level. ADRC has been active as an RSO since signing a cooperation agreement with UNOOSA on 4 June 2009, at the 52nd session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).)
At the 10 June meeting, ADRC Project Director SUZUKI Koji explained the progress of a project for use of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) in disaster risk reduction. QZSS is a system that the National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office of Japan, is considering deploying in cooperation with nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The project technology uses QZSS (known as Michibiki in Japan), a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) developed and operated by the Japanese government, to transmit disaster-related information. This advanced technology can provide disaster-related information even in areas where regular communication infrastructure is lacking or is disrupted due to disaster. In Japan, partial operation began in 2018. The feasibility for general implementation of the technology in the Asia-Pacific region is being evaluated through surveys and by taking prototype receivers to the region to conduct demonstrations.
At the start of the meeting, UN-SPIDER explained that, until now, efforts to utilise space-based technologies for disaster risk reduction on the UN-SPIDER platform have been related to optical satellites and SAR satellites, and therefore use of GNSS (QZSS) technology for disaster risk reduction is very unique.
(2024/06/17 15:00)