** February 2023 News from Sentinel Asia Project Office **- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *Topics:
1. [News] Emergency Observation of Disasters
https://sentinel-asia.org/EO/EmergencyObservation.html
2. [News] Philippine Space Agency became a member of Sentinel Asia as a Data Provider Nodehttps://sentinel-asia.org/event/Event.html
3. [News] PHIVOLCS organized Project Manager training on Disasters Charter for Filipino
agencies
4. [Interview] Dr. Arturo Daag, PHIVOLCS
https://sentinel-asia.org/interview/interview_PHIVOLCS.html
5. How to Send an Emergency Observation Request
6. Using the Sentinel Asia Operation System, OPTEMIS- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *1. [News] Emergency Observation of Disasters (as of 28 February)(1) Earthquake in Turkey on 06 February, 2023 (GLIDE Number EQ-2023-000015-TUR)
On 06 February, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in Gaziantep Province, Turkey, near theborder with Syria. A large number of aftershocks including one with a magnitude of 7.5
followed in the region. ReliefWeb reported that over 36,100 people were killed and 216,347
people from affected areas have been relocated to other provinces, according to Turkey’s
Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) on 16 February.
(https://reliefweb.int/disaster/eq-2023-000015-tur)
The AFAD made an Emergency Observation Request (EOR) to Sentinel Asia on 6 February,
2023. Among Data Provider Nodes (DPNs), GISTDA, ISRO, JAXA, MBRSC, and TASA
provided data. Among Data Analysis Nodes (DANs), the Institute of Geology, China
Earthquake Administration (CEA), Chiba University, the Earth Observatory of Singapore(EOS), TASA, the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) with the University of Tabriz and Gebze
Technical University, MBRSC, the National Disaster Management Research Institute (NDMI),
and Symbiosis Institute of Geoinformatics (SIG) , Symbiosis International University (SIU)
provided their Value-Added Products (VAPs). Information on the latest response by Sentinel
Asia is available at the link below.
https://sentinel-asia.org/EO/2023/article20230206TR.html

Post-disaster satellite image (THEOS-1)
provided by GISTDA

Post-disaster satellite image (CARTOSAT-3)
provided by ISRO

Post-disaster satellite image (ALOS-2)
provided by JAXA

Post-disaster satellite image (KhalifaSat)
provided by MBRSC

Post-disaster satellite image(FORMOSAT-5) provided by TASA

Value-Added Product by Chiba University

Value-Added Product by CEA

Value-Added Product by EOS

Value-Added Product by TASA

Value-Added Product by TIT with the
University of Tabriz and Gebze Technical
University

Value-Added Product by MBRSC

Value-Added Product by NDMI

Value-Added Product by SIG-SIU(2) Earthquake in the Philippines on 16 February, 2023 (GLIDE Number EQ-2023-000025PHL)
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Masbate Island near Luzon and Samar islands in thePhilippines on 16 February. Philippine News Agency reported the day after the quake that 61
houses, 15 schools, and six buildings were damaged, but there were no casualties.
(https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1195447)
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) made an Emergency
Observation Request (EOR) to Sentinel Asia on 17 February, 2023. This EOR was escalated to
the International Disasters Charter. PHIVOLCS assumed the role of Project Manager for thisCharter activation. Among DPNs, CRISP, JAXA, and TASA provided data. Information on thelatest response by Sentinel Asia is available at the link below.
https://sentinel-asia.org/EO/2023/article20230216PH.html

Post-disaster satellite image (TelEOS-1)
provided by CRISP

Post-disaster satellite image(ALOS-2) provided by JAXAPost-disaster satellite image (FORMOSAT-5)
provided by TASA

- * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *2. [News] Philippine Space Agency became a member of Sentinel Asia as a Data Provider NodeOn 24 January, 2023, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) became a member of Sentinel Asia asa Data Provider Node, which provides Earth observation satellite images when Sentinel Asia is
activated.
Sentinel Asia is an international cooperative project that aims to contribute to disaster managementin the Asia-Pacific region by utilizing space technology. The purpose is to reduce the damage
caused by natural disasters by sharing disaster-related information, such as Earth observation
satellite images, via the Internet. Sentinel Asia was established in 2006 as an initiative of the AsiaPacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), with JAXA playing the role of secretariat.
PhilSA, established in 2019, is the central government agency addressing all national issues andactivities related to space science and technology applications. As a Data Provider Node, PhilSA is
expected to provide Earth observation satellite images from two satellites: DIWATA-2 andNovaSAR-1.
DIWATA-2, an Earth observation microsatellite, was built by researchers from the University of
the Philippines Diliman (UPD) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI) in cooperation with Tohoku University and
Hokkaido University in Japan and launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in October, 2018.
NovaSAR-1 is a Synthetic Aperture Rader (SAR) satellite. Other mission partners include UK
Space Agency (UKSA), Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization (CSIRO), and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The total number of Sentinel Asia members in the Philippines is now 10, including Data Analysis
Nodes and Disaster Management Organizations. As an executive secretariat of Sentinel Asia, JAXA
will continue working with the Sentinel Asia member to deepen and revitalize community
cooperation and establish Sentinel Asia as a tool for disaster management in the affected countries.

The Sentinel Asia Secretariat visited PhilSA and handed over an approval letter to become amember of Sentinel Asia (January 25, 2023)- * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *3. [News] PHIVOLCS organized Project Manager training on the Disasters Charter for Filipino
agencies“The International Charter Space and Major Disasters,” or “the Charter,” is an internationalframework for space agencies, currently 17, to provide satellite observation images in response todisaster emergencies worldwide. Sentinel Asia has close relations to the Charter. In addition tosome members of Sentinel Asia also being members of the Charter, any member organizations of
Sentinel Asia can request emergency observation by Charter satellites at the same time that they
send an Emergency Observation Request (EOR) to Sentinel Asia when needed.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) is an active member of
Sentinel Asia and has contributed to Sentinel Asia activities by providing its analysis for EORs.
PHIVOLCS is also a member of the Sentinel Asia Steering Committee. On 24 January, 2023,
PHIVOLCS, with the support of JAXA, organized Project Manager training in Quezon City,
Philippines.
“Project Manager” is a role within the Charter to manage activation and communicate with users
and space agencies. PHIVOLCS has been working as a project manager for Charter activations inthe Philippines. Considering the importance of the project manager from the country requesting
Charter activation, PHIVOLCS invited the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration (PAGASA), the Mines and Geoscience Bureau (MGB), the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources, the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), theManila Observatory, and the newly established Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) for the training
and 38 people participated in total.
The training started with remarks by Dr. Teresito C. Bacolcol, Director of PHIVOLCS, and theparticipants learned about how the Charter works and the role of the Project Manager in Charter
activations. They also deepened their understanding of Sentinel Asia and discussed the role of eachparticipating agency and protocol when a disaster occurs in the Philippines.

The International Charter Space and Major Disasters
https://disasterscharter.org/
How the Charter Works
https://disasterscharter.org/web/guest/how-the-charter-works

A Value-Added Product produced by PHIVOLCS for an earthquake in the Philippines, 27 July,
2022. PHIVOLCS also worked as a project manager.

- * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *4. [Interview] Dr. Arturo Daag, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology(PHIVOLCS) is a service institute of the Department of
Science and Technology (DOST) that is principally
mandated to mitigate disasters that may arise fromvolcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunami and otherrelated geotectonic phenomena. They provide timely,
quality and socially-inclusive information and services
for warning, disaster preparedness and mitigation. They
do through the development and application oftechnologies for the monitoring and accurate predictionof, and determination of areas prone to, volcanic
eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and other related
hazards, and gender-responsive capacity enhancement
for comprehensive disaster risk reduction.

Sentinel Asia secretariat interviewed Dr. Arturo S. Daag, Associate Scientist at DOST-PHIVOLCS,
on their activities relating to Sentinel Asia.

Sentinel Asia Secretariat
The Sentinel Asia Secretariat is grateful for PHIVOLCS’ long-time contribution to our activities.
As one of our Data Analysis Nodes (DANs), we understand that you are one of the principal
institutions that work against disasters in the Philippines. We also expect you to continue to serve
this role. Could you tell us the background of your joining Sentinel Asia (SA)?
Dr. Arturo DaagPHIVOLCS joined SA more than a decade ago through joint projects, mainly on capacity building,partnering with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Some of those projects wereconducted with the full support of JAXA and in partnership with PASCO-Philippines in which
several educators came from Japan and provided knowledge of processing optical and later SAR(JERS, ALOS1 & 2) remote sensing data.
Some of the successful projects concerned the use of ALOS-2 and GIS data for detecting land
deformation and subsidence near metro Manila, fault system studies, and volcano activity
monitoring.
In more recent activities, JAXA supported PHIVOLCS’ partnership with NTT data for using Global
Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP) (near real-time rainfall observation) data and RADAR
for landslide management. In this project, the calibration of the satellite observation showed astrong correlation with the field observations especially on heavy to moderate rainfall. These data
were then utilized on a Web-based application for a landslide monitoring and warning system.
Based on such a system, PHIVOLCS conducted capacity building for local people in Rizal Province
as a pilot site. At the moment and in more recent years, PHIVOLCS uses the capacity of Sentinel
Asia for data acquisition in times of disaster.

Sentinel Asia Secretariat
The Philippines has the largest number of SA members next to Japan. Can you tell us the frameworkof these institutions and the roles of each member in your country?
Dr. Arturo Daag
The Philippines is prone to various disasters, from meteorological and geologic hazards. The
frequency of disasters is higher compared to other countries. Member disaster organizations, bothgovernment and non-government, are active during disasters and thus there is a good network andcollaborations.
The Sentinel Asia Project Manager training session can be considered as the starting point for bettercollaborations. Now, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) is also on board with Sentinel Asia
activities, and since it acts as a mother agency, by designing a proper protocol as a leader, I expect
to have more agencies/institutes contributing to Sentinel Asia.

Sentinel Asia Secretariat“World Disaster Risk 2022” by Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft and the Institute for International Law
of Peace (RUB) and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University Bochum (IFHV) points out the Philippines
as the highest disaster risk country. Disaster management is the top priority of your country. Could
you please tell us what is the role of SA in your country? And what is PHIVOLCS’ motivation forjoining SA?
Dr. Arturo Daag
One of PHIVOLCS’ mandates is to study and monitor earthquake and volcanic eruptions. In thecase of a large-scale event, PHIVOLCS is required to provide an immediate update/map of the
impacted area. Since PHIVOLCS was trained to conduct image processing and use satellite
observations, now we have the capacity to use the Sentinel Asia Portal for Earth Observation
Request (EOR) at the time of a disaster to generate those maps and information.

Sentinel Asia Secretariat
Q4: On another topic, the former director of PHIVOLCS, Dr. Renato Solidum, is now the Secretaryof the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Does this change in your organization cause
any revisions in your goals or plans? If so, do you have any changes in relation to SA?
Dr. Arturo Daag
Since the new PHIVOLCS’ director is also in the remote sensing field and GPS, PHIVOLCS values
the usefulness of remote sensing data in disaster management, and I’m sure the role and interest of
PHIVOLCS will remain the same. Also, our human resources are now trained, and they can makethe most of the remote sensing data. The newly established “Remote Sensing” unit at PHIVOLCS
is part of the PHIVOLCS strategy of better-using satellite observation for disaster management.

Sentinel Asia Secretariat
We suppose that PHIVOLCS mainly handles disasters related to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
How do you combine Sentinel Asia in your disaster management activities?
Dr. Arturo Daag
Sentinel Asia plays a crucial role in disaster management in the Philippines. Especially in the timeof a large-scale event, the only timely way to grasp the situation is through satellite observation.
Sentinel Asia plays an important role in times of disaster through the coordinated efforts of Satellite
Data Providers by providing data free of charge in times of disaster, which is very important indisaster management.

Sentinel Asia Secretariat
PHIVOLCS has handled disasters related to storms, like Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in 2013.
Considering that there is so much damage from such storms, what do you expect from SA for thestorms?

Dr. Arturo Daag
Large events such as Typhoon Haiyan require huge international effort since the demand for data
download and processive are intensive. At that time, Project Management and all the related
coordination usually take an enormous effort; luckily, international partners helped in the valueadded product development.
If the event is related to a flood, landslide, or typhoon, it is better if PHIVOLCS does not act as aproject manager, as those issues are not part of PHIVOLCS’ mandate. However, for several floodand landslide events, we act as Project Manager since there are no other available personnel to takeover. However, since we just conducted Project Management Training, agencies concerned withmeteorological hazards should act as PM, such as PAGASA and other agencies.

Sentinel Asia Secretariat
What are the advantages of SA, for example, the provision of Value-Added Products by DAN in atimely manner, etc.? And can you tell us what you expect from SA?
Dr. Arturo Daag
One of the important aspects of the SA is collaborations with other international partners. Some of
the resources and expertise come from other SA member countries. For example, at the time of aflood, if the Philippines DAN does not process the data due to other response priorities related tothe disaster, other DANs like the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) could support us byprocessing the data and provide the information to the Philippines. Some DAN partners also
provide training sessions as part of capacity building for SA members.

Sentinel Asia Secretariat
PhilSA develops Philippines earth observation satellites. What do you expect from these satellites?
Dr. Arturo Daag
PhilSA satellites at the moment are mainly in the experimental stage and are mostly small satellites
such as CubeSat and NanoSatellite, which were part of the early development under DOST-ASTI.
With the creation of PHILSA, the development of EOS will be faster since manpower and resources
has increased. In the near future, PHILSA will join as Data Provider Node.
Sentinel Asia Secretariat
SA is expected to contribute to promoting the resolution of socioeconomic challenges in the“Nagoya Vision” of the Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF)(https://www.aprsaf.org/annual_meetings/aprsaf26/outcome_documents.php#Vision). Is
SA combined for solving these challenges in the Philippines, or will it be?
contribute to SA?

Dr. Arturo DaagPHIVOLCS can contribute to developing good practices and highlighting the importance andimpact of the data provided by SA for other stakeholders and agencies in the Philippines when it
comes to disasters.

- * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *- * - * - * - * - * - *5. How to send an Emergency Observation Request
JPT member organizations are entitled to send an Emergency Observation Request (EOR) for
disasters in the Asia-Pacific region. Please refer to https://sentinel-asia.org/elearning/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, OPTEMIS
Sentinel Asia launched a new operation system, OPTEMIS. Please refer to the website on how tocreateanaccount
for
OPTEMIS.
https://sentinel-asia.org/elearning/Emergency_Observation_Request.html+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+===+=
Copyright 2023 the Sentinel Asia Secretariat
Sentinel Asia Project OfficeSatellite Applications and Operations Center (SAOC)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Ochanomizu Sola City, 4-6 Kandasurugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8008 Japan
E-mail: Z-SENTINEL.ASIA@ml.jaxa.jp