UN Certificate Course on Geospatial Technologies for Disaster Risk Reduction

UN Certificate Course on Geospatial Technologies for Disaster Risk Reduction

Geospatial Technologies for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Horn of Africa

unitar logoGeographic information systems (GIS) can be a very useful tool for the whole disaster management cycle starting from the preparedness phase, mitigation to response, recovery and reconstruction. GIS has proven to be efficient for implementing coherent Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities at regional, national and local scales. Quantifying risk and expected future losses is a key step in any DRR program.

Geospatial risk assessment can be performed with GIS tools and techniques which can quantify risk and identify the locations in need of risk reduction measures. The role of GIS doesn’t stop there; in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, satellite based rapid analysis enables the emergency response agencies to respond in a better and coordinated way.

The overall aim of the course is to provide training on the concepts of geospatial technologies available today and methodologies for risk assessment and satellite-based mapping.

Course Schedule: 25 Jan – 04 Feb 2016 (10 days)

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Programme area: Satellite Imagery and Analysis

Fee: N/A

UNITAR Certificate: Students will be given a UN Certificate from UNITAR on successful completion of the course.

Course Coordination: Rohini S. Swaminathan, UNITAR-UNOSAT (Rohini.SWAMINATHAN@unitar.org)

Course Objectives:

The aim of the course is to provide participants with GIS and Remote Sensing (RS) methodologies related to disaster risk assessment.

At the end of the course students should be able to:

  • Define and describe basic concepts and terminologies related to Geospatial Information Technology (GIT);
  • Apply basic methods and functionalities for GIS analysis and mapping;
  • Identify, access, search, collect, organize and analyse geospatial data relevant to DRR;
  • Apply GIS methodologies and tools to perform disaster risk assessment;
  • Explain the advantages and limitations of using geospatial information in DRR.

Content and Structure:

The course is focused on providing insight into various tools available in GIS for disaster Risk Reduciton. On the first three days of the training, participants will get familiar with ESRI ArcGIS software and on the third day they will be introduced to field data collection using smart phones. The fourth day will focus on basics of remote sensing and on the fifth day the participants will participate in several image processing exercises using GIS. In the second week, participants will be introduced to applications of geospatial technologies for DRR (with case studies for flood and drought). Towards the last days of the second week, participants will be introduced to map layouts and they will work on individual assignments.

Methodology:

This is a full-time, face-to-face course with lectures and GIS lab exercises using local datasets and real case scenarios (60% lab exercises, 40% lectures and discussions). This course is divided into 10 modules. Each module is structured into 4 sessions of 1.5 hour each. The average workload per week is likely to be around 25-30 hours.

The course is divided into 10 Modules offered over a two weeks period. Each module is structured into 4 sessions of 1.5 hour each. The average workload per week is likely to be around 25-30 hours.

Targeted Audience:

Disaster management professionals working in governmental organizations who wish to strengthen their practical skills in applications of geospatial technologies for DRR. It is recommended that participants taking the course have a working knowledge of English including a basic knowledge on GIS and RS technology.

Participants are highly recommended to attend a 4 hours long course “Getting Started with GIS” Offered by ESRI. The course can be accessed through the following link –

http://training.esri.com/gateway/index.cfm?fa=catalog.webCourseDetail&courseid=2500

Click for Additional Information

Categories: Courses

About Author

GIS Resources

GIS Resources is an initiative of Spatial Media and Services Enterprises with the purpose that everyone can enrich their knowledge and develop competitiveness. GIS Resources is a global platform, for latest and high-quality information source for the geospatial industry, brings you the latest insights into the developments in geospatial science and technology.

Write a Comment

Your e-mail address will not be published.
Required fields are marked*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.