U53B-01 INVITED
Linking Geophysical Networks to International Economic Development Through Integration of Global and National Monitoring
Outside of the research community and mission agencies, global geophysical monitoring rarely receives sustained attention except in the aftermath of a humanitarian disaster. The recovery and rebuilding period focuses attention and resources for a short time on regional needs for geophysical observation, often at the national or sub-national level. This can result in the rapid deployment of national monitoring networks, but may overlook the longer-term benefits of integration with global networks. Even in the case of multinational disasters, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami, it has proved difficult to promote the integration of national solutions with global monitoring, research and operations infrastructure. More importantly, continuing operations at the national or sub-national scale are difficult to sustain once the resources associated with recovery and rebuilding are depleted. Except for some notable examples, the vast infrastructure associated with global geophysical monitoring is not utilized constructively to promote the integration of national networks with international efforts. This represents a missed opportunity not only for monitoring, but for developing the international research and educational collaborations necessary for technological transfer and capacity building. The recent confluence of highly visible disasters, global multi-hazard risk assessments, evaluations of the relationships between natural disasters and socio-economic development, and shifts in development agency policies, provides an opportunity to link global geophysical monitoring initiatives to central issues in international development. Natural hazard risk reduction has not been the first priority of international development agendas for understandable, mainly humanitarian reasons. However, it is now recognized that the so-called risk premium associated with making development projects more risk conscious or risk resilient is relatively small relative to potential losses. Thus there is an attitudinal shift emerging whereby disaster risk management can be "mainstreamed" into the sustainable development programs in many countries. Consequently, it is incumbent to demonstrate that multi-scale geophysical monitoring, comprising integration of global networks with national and sub-national operations, is a foundational component of sustainable development infrastructure. This suggests even greater emphasis on developing dynamic and adaptive multi- hazard risk assessments, encompassing valid estimates of social and physical vulnerabilities; designing multi- scale network integration strategies that consider risk as well as hazard; providing operational and flexible templates for developing national networks in a global context; emphasizing the backbone characteristics of global geophysical monitoring to nations seeking to develop their own monitoring capacity; promoting sustained international research, education and training collaborations coinciding with the development of monitoring capacity; and continuing to promote the free and open exchange of data as a necessary component of sustained intellectual interest in monitoring. A combination of these strategies may counteract the decay of interest in regional geophysical monitoring after a disaster.
U53B-02 INVITED
GEO activities towards improved Geophysical monitoring. A key input to Disaster Risk Reduction.
GEO has been established in 2005 with the main objective to put in place a Global, Coordinated, Comprehensive and Sustained System of Observing Systems (GEOSS) to serve 9 Social Benefit Areas, among which Disaster Risk Reduction. The paper will first set up the reference GEO framework, through a brief description of GEOSS key features, architectural functions and capacity building, and then will recall the value of the Geophysical observations, coming both from in situ and remote (satellite) systems, and, even more important, of their integration. GEO activities related to Geophysical monitoring and the use of related observation to foster social benefits in the Disaster Risk Reduction area will then be shortly described, together with the on-going key actions, including specific examples on key scientific/technical and data sharing aspects associated to GEOSS implementation. Special attention will be devoted on how Capacity Building strategy and activities are addressed through GEOSS development, building on infrastructure and programs under consolidation within GEO framework, such as the GEOSS Information collection and dissemination systems under development (GEONETCast, GEO Web Portal, GEO Clearinghouse) and the UN programs such as SPIDER (SPace based Information for Disaster management and Emergency Response) and UNOSAT. The paper will provide recommendations on the way forward for the implementation of Disaster Risk Management provisions as an integral part of sustainable development, also with the objective of creating within GEO a supporting framework to UNDP and World Bank activities on Risk Identification and Assessment.
U53B-03
AfricaArray: Building science capacity and improving seismic networks in Africa
AfricaArray is a long-term initiative to promote coupled training and research programs in geophysics for building and maintaining a scientific workforce for Africa's natural resource sector. The main goals of AfricaArray are to: 1) maintain and develop further geophysical training programs in Africa, in response to industry, government and university needs, 2) promote geophysical research in Africa, and establish an Africa-to-Africa research support system, 3) obtain geophysical data, through a network of shared observatories, to study scientific targets of economic and societal interest, as well as fundamental geological processes shaping the African continent. AfricaArray is supported by a public-private partnership consisting of many government organizations in the US and Africa, and mining and oil companies. AfricaArray has been built on existing programs and expertise within partner institutions and is being implemented in three phases over ten years. During Phase 1 (1/2005 - 12/2007), the educational program at the University of the Witwatersrand is being expanded and improved to provide B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degree training in geophysics for students from across Africa. Seismic stations are being installed or upgraded in participating countries to form a network of shared scientific observatories, and technical personnel are being trained to operate and maintain the seismic equipment. Data from the seismic stations are being used for student thesis research projects, and the seismic network is helping to catalyze scientific community building through educational and research collaborations. During subsequent phases (2007-2014), the in-situ education and research program will grow to provide B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. training for many more African students, the network of shared scientific observatories will be expanded, temporary networks of seismic stations will be installed, sustainable centers of excellence in geophysics will be established at other African universities, additional sensors (i.e., GPS, meteorological) will be installed at the seismic stations. AfricaArray also has developed a US education program aimed at recruiting students from physics, math, engineering and earth science programs at historically black colleges and universities into graduate programs in geophysics at US universities.
U53B-04
Multi-Hazards Geophysical Monitoring Through the Eastern Caribbean Islands arc: Strategy, Challenges and Future Development
The Seismic Research Unit (SRU), at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad, W.I., is responsible for monitoring and studying geological hazards in the English and Dutch speaking islands nestled along the ocean-ocean plate convergence zone in the Eastern Caribbean. The Unit operates a multi-hazards monitoring network that spans over 15 islands. Geophysical monitoring techniques include 11 broadband and 44 short period seismic stations, 4 accelerometers, 4 continuous GPS stations (cGPS) and over 50 ground-deformation benchmarks. This seismic network caters for general earthquake surveillance and study as well as for volcano early-warning. As part of the recent trust to improve tsunami surveillance capabilities in the Caribbean the unit has embarked on a program to upgrade a subset of the seismograph network. Near real-time satellite communications will be installed to improve the present network that is built around terrestrial Internet and telephone media. Additional strong motion accelerometers will also be operated alongside the broadband sensors at the upgraded stations to provide the necessary specifications for tsunami detection. Through real- time data exchanged with adjacent and global networks that are involved in the effort to establish a Tsunami Warning System for the Caribbean and adjacent regions, the Unit's capacity to monitor multiple hazard via the seismological method will be significantly improved. The geodetic monitoring program is a hybrid of near real-time data acquisition and static field surveys. It is principally geared towards volcano ground deformation monitoring. The main challenge while monitoring volcano ground deformation in small islands is the limited control on the reference station which are often located within the potential deformation field (versus been ideally outside any volcano related deformation field). As a result, SRU's strategy is to control reference stations in every island by long-baselines processing using region wide and CORS stations outside the Eastern Caribbean. Intra-islands volcano ground deformation networks are then processed independently per island/volcano by coupling high temporal resolution surveys with lower sampling rate local cGPS, which increases drastically the cost effectiveness and accuracy of the monitoring. The data generated by the combination of instrumentation will provide improved insights into the ongoing regional tectonic processes. Here we present SRU's strategy for integrating different spatial and temporal scales in multi-hazards geophysical monitoring, as well as real and potential challenges.
U53B-05
Drought, Wetland, and Flood Monitoring with Satellite Scatterometer
Monitoring droughts, wetlands, and floods demands large scale and frequent coverage by satellite observations. Launched in 1999, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) SeaWinds scatterometer aboard the QuikSCAT (QSCAT) satellite can collect backscatter data over 90% of the world in a day. The satellite scatterometer has acquired about 8 years of data and is currently measuring the Earth in 14 orbits per day. For drought monitoring, QSCAT data can detect surface soil moisture change and corresponding vegetation change. QSCAT identified drought conditions in the Midwest region of the United States in 2003 as the precipitation frequency observed by QSCAT decreases significantly. In Nairobi, Kenya, long-term QSCAT monitoring shows the severe droughts of 2000 and 2005. QSCAT data will be used together with other data types to enhance the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) to be transitioned into the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). At the other extreme, QSCAT data reveal the timing and patterns of surface soil moisture changes associated with winter storms in California in 2005 and with extreme hurricanes such as Ivan in 2004, Katrina, and Rita in 2005. Flood inundated areas are delineated by QSCAT along the Lena River, and such flooding is related to the snowmelt duration. QSCAT observations show that the Flood of Century along the Lena River in 2001 occurred after an excessively rapid spring melt period. QSCAT data are appropriate for wetland monitoring. The dynamics of wetlands in the Mississippi River basin observed by QSCAT include river discharge lagging the wetland change: first excess surface water is measured, and then streamflow increases. QSCAT data also capture the extreme seasonal wetland dynamics over the region of the Sudd swamps along the upper reaches of the White Nile River in southern Sudan. With the QSCAT capability in monitoring drought, wetland, and flood frequently over the world, QSCAT results will be crucial for incorporation into the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) for decision support and disaster mitigation.
U53B-06
Sustainable Geophysical Observatory Networks
Geophysical networks are defined not only by their technical specifications, but also by the characteristics and
needs of the communities that use them. Growing populations supported by more elaborate urban infrastructure
with its fine-grained socio-economic interdependencies and relying on global and regional connections for
sustainability make new demands for natural hazard risk management. Taking advantage of advances in the
underlying science to provide society with accurate risk assessments often requires higher fidelity
measurements, entirely new types of observations, and an evolutionary sense of data products and information
management.
Engineering a high-tech system to address stakeholder needs is difficult, and designing for unpredictable
developments requires an emphasis on adaptation. Thus, it is essential to promote formation of organizations or
communities that can support evolution of a technological system, imagine new uses, and develop the societal
relationships that sustain operations and provide capital for improvement. The owners must have a deep
understanding of why the system works in particular ways and how to manage data products for the benefits of
stakeholders.
To be effective, community promotion must be sustained over a longer period of time than required to build a
network and should be aimed at integrating the community into worldwide partnerships. Practices that can
promote community formation if they are sustained include repeated training and scientific exchange workshops,
extended visits by experts and staff at all levels to and from countries where networks are installed, mechanisms
that make timely upgrades realistically possible, and routine exchange and wide dissemination of data in all
directions. The combination of international research and educational collaborations, supported by open data
exchange, with regionalized and specific assessments of local stakeholder needs and concerns, provides a
sustainable model for geophysical observation.
http:www.iris.edu/instrumentloan/