** June 2020 News from Sentinel Asia Project Office **- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *Topics:
1. [News] Emergency Observation of Disasters Occurring in June 2020
2. [Interview] New DAN Member: NIED (TBD)
3. [News] Steering Committee members discussed the present and future of Sentinel Asia
4. Events
5. How to send Emergency Observation Request
6. Using Sentinel Asia Operation System, OPTEMIS- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *1. [News] Emergency Observation of Disasters Occurring in June 2020.
Cyclone Nisarga struck western India near Mumbai early June. National Remote Sensing Center(NRSC), ISRO, India requested emergency observation by Sentinel Asia on 4 June. Among
Data Provider Nodes (DPNs), JAXA provided the ALOS-2 observation data and among Data
Analysis Nodes (DANs), AIT analyzed the satellite data and provided their products. The
information on the latest response by Sentinel Asia is available from the following link.
https://sentinel-asia.org/EO/article20200604IN.html

Product by AIT

- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *2. [Interview]
New DAN Member: National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED),Japan
Dr. Hitoshi Taguchi,
https://www.bosai.go.jp/e/index.html(This article is a shortened version of the interview. The full script is available on the Sentinel
Asia Website at https://sentinel-asia.org/interview/interview.html.)
NIED has been a Joint Project Team (JPT) member of Sentinel Asia since 2016 and became a DataAnalysis Node (DAN) member in June 2020. For a new start as a DAN, Sentinel Asia secretariat
made a short interview to Dr. Taguchi who is the point of contact of Sentinel Asia in NIED.

-What was your motivation to become a DAN and what are your ambitions?

“In accordance with our Mid-term Plan, we have started the utilization of geospatial data on top ofGIS over the past few years. In line with this Mid-term Plan, we would like to develop analysis
technology for applying satellite data into product. This is why we made an application to be aDAN member. As one of our immediate targets, we aim at offering governmental agencies somesample applications made for initial response to domestic disasters by reviewing satellite data thathave not yet been utilized. In the future, we hope to support Sentinel Asia members in foreigncountries as well with our research results and analytical techniques acquired through our activities
targeted for Japan.
-Would you please tell us disaster types which specifically interest you in supporting as a DAN?

“At the moment, it is unlikely that we would focus only on specific disaster types because themost important point is to offer the subject of decision-making. Rather, we are interested incomparing pre- and post- disaster stages by integrating satellite data and other data. Speaking of
our experience, in 2019, we created a product that estimated damages of an urban area by extracting
flooded areas and then overlaying data on buildings. In Japan, although data on damage after adisaster are published, with conventional methods, damage figures often change significantly
between immediately after a disaster and a month after it occurs, for example. However, bycombining satellite data and map information, we can fill in the gaps. Also, the combined
information derived from satellite data and map can be used to focus on identifying further risks.
We are going to establish these procedures first in Japan, and then would like to apply them tooverseas cases. We believe that in this way we can support Sentinel Asia colleagues.
-Oher than providing products, what would you like to contribute as DAN of Sentinel Asia?

“I hope to contribute to Sentinel Asia by deepening exchanges with JPT members in Japan andabroad, drawing on our experience of working with domestic and international organizations.”-How can Sentinel Asia contribute to your research activities at NIED?

“I expect that Sentinel Asia can strengthen the flow through which foreign satellite data will be
used for disasters in Japan.”- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *3. [News] Steering Committee members discussed the present and future of Sentinel AsiaA meeting of Sentinel Asia Steering Committee was held online on 23 June. The members
discussed the current status of Sentinel Asia Step3, Sentinel Asia Strategic Plan, etc. The
Steering Committee holds a face-to-face meeting once a year and the result is reported at the Joint
Project Team meeting (JPTM).

- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *4. [Events]
Upcoming Events:-APRSAF Online 2020, around October-November 2020 (TBC)- The 8th Joint Project Team Meeting (JPTM) (TBC)LAPAN, Indonesia- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *5. How to send Emergency Observation Request
JPT member organizations are entitled to send Emergency Observation Request (EOR) for disasters
in the Asia-Pacific region.
Please refer to https://sentinel-asia.org/e-learning/Emergency_Observation_Request.html
EOR Order Desk:
Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)
HP: http://www.adrc.asia/E-mail: sarequest@adrc.asia
FAX: +81-78-262-5546,
TEL: +81-78-262-5540

- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *6. Using Sentinel Asia Operation System, OPTEMISThe Sentinel Asia launched new operation system, OPTEMIS.
create the account of OPTEMIS.

Please refer to the website how tohttps://sentinel-asia.org/e-learning/Emergency_Observation_Request.html+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+==
Copyright 2020 the Sentinel Asia Secretariat
Sentinel Asia Project OfficeSatellite Applications and Operations Center (SAOC)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
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E-mail: Z-SENTINEL.ASIA@ml.jaxa.jp
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