Einar Bjorgo: Earth Observation Data to Build Climate Resilience
A conversation about leveraging Earth observation data on disaster and climate risks to inform planning, food security needs, and environmental assessments.
Radiant.Earth is pleased to introduce to you Dr. Einar Bjorgo, Director of the Division for Satellite Analysis and Applied Research and UNOSAT’s Programme Manager at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). UNOSAT is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 1999, Dr. Bjorgo joined the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to work on the integration of GIS and satellite imagery to support refugee relief operations. He joined UNOSAT in 2002 to help develop the humanitarian rapid mapping service and is often considered to be one of UNOSAT’s architects for capacity development and disaster risk reduction activities in Asia and East Africa. On February 8, 2018, the UK Space Agency announced funding for ten new projects to tackle some of the world’s most significant challenges, including UNOSAT’s CommonSensing project.
The CommonSensing project aims to improve resilience to climate change, including disaster risk reduction, and to contribute to sustainable development in Fiji, The Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Although UNOSAT is the lead organization, the governments concerned, as well as Satellite Applications Catapult, the Commonwealth Secretariat, Devex, Radiant.Earth, the University of Portsmouth, the UK Met Office, and Sensonomic will work together to implement the project.
In this Q&A, Dr. Bjorgo talks about how to contribute to sustainable development and improve disaster responses for small island nations that are experiencing climate change.
“Through technology, we are contributing to helping many vulnerable populations.”
You have focused your entire career on the application of Earth observation data and tools to aid humanitarian development efforts. What got you interested in the sector and how do you stay inspired?
While I was researching for my master’s thesis using satellite imagery to detect trends in the polar ice cover, the Rwanda genocide started. I thought that perhaps the satellite imagery technology I had been using to look at changes in the sea ice could also be used to help refugees. That is what got me started. I contacted the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and they were also interested in what was back in the mid-90s a new technology for humanitarian applications. I stay inspired by the positive feedback we receive and by seeing how much progress we have done in terms of impact. This technology is now familiar as a decision-making tool in the UN. Through technology, we are contributing to helping many vulnerable populations.
UNOSAT was created in 2002 to deliver satellite analysis, geospatial information, training, and capacity development to relief and development organizations within and outside the UN system. As one of the early staff members, what are some of the successes of the work? Which areas need to be improved?
Our ability to provide predictable and rapid mapping service for 15 years (and counting) to governments are some of the most significant successes seen. We have now fully integrated this capacity into the humanitarian decision-making following sudden-onset disasters. Lately, we have been further expanding the application of Earth observation during conflict situations, for the protection of cultural heritage, and as a tool to improve sustainable water management. We still need to improve on communicating about what we do as there is a lot of turnover of humanitarian actors in the affected countries. We also need to inform various governments even more on the benefit of Earth observation, in particular how this technology can be used at scale to support Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals.
CommonSensing will combine Earth observation data to provide stakeholders with access to vital information regarding disaster risks, planning, food security, climate risk, and other environmental concerns. What is your role in the project?
I have the pleasure to be Project Director, working with the project management team to ensure that what we develop will be useful for the country-partners. CommonSensing puts significant focus on understanding the various requirements for in-country decision making when it comes to accessing climate funding and improving climate resilience.
Why was the CommonSensing project established? Who is the target audience?
It was established to equip Commonwealth of Nations countries with knowledge, relevant data, and services to improve their resilience to climate change. We are focusing on three Small Island Development States (SIDS): Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Our target audience includes policymakers, decision-makers, and technical support staff working in various ministries. CommonSensing is also very much in line with Agenda 2030, so the project partners, including the national actors, make an essential contribution to sustainable development in that sense.
“CommonSensing is also very much in line with Agenda 2030, so the project partners, including the national actors, make an essential contribution to sustainable development in that sense.”
The end products for CommonSensing are a web portal and mobile applications to facilitate access to the information for stakeholders in Fiji, The Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Can you expand on the end products? What EO data types and classes will be hosted? Will it be accessible to everyone or limited to the beneficiaries?
These are still the early days, but we foresee feeding large amounts of analysis-ready data to the in-country partners. This can take the form of data cubes and other types of big data processing and analysis. We also need to link climate and hazard models and ensure that we support food security at the national level. The analysis-ready data need to go hand-in-hand with capacity development and training. We are primarily looking at free and open source data that will be developed based on the needs expressed at the country level.
The analysis-ready data need to go hand-in-hand with capacity development and training. We are primarily looking at free and open source data that will be developed based on the needs expressed at the country level.
