Real-Time Remote Sensing for Early Warning & Mitigation of Disasters & Epidemics:

The Kamal Ewida Earth Observatory (KEEO)

SfP 983168

PPD: Prof. Dr. Magdy Abdel Wahab – Cairo University, EgyptNPD: Gilbert L. Rochon, Ph. D.,MPH – Purdue University, USAPresentation before the NATO SfP Expert Panel on Environmental Security- NATO HQ Brussels, Belgium June 2, 2008

Dr. Mohammed Kamal Tolba Ewida• Dean, Faculty of

Engineering- Zagazig University, Sharkia, Egypt

• Delegate from Egypt to the NATO CCMS Pilot Study on Clean Products & Processes

• Project Coordinator, 1st Phase- eLearning System for Water & Environmental Studies (eSWES) Departed Nov. 4, 2006

NATO Science for Peace Project• REAL-TIME REMOTE SENSING FOR

EARLY WARNING & MITIGATION OF DISASTERS & EPIDEMICS– Geostationary Groundstation at Al Azhar

University – European Space Agency’s Meteosat– Tracking Groundstation at Cairo University for

NOAA AVHRR, NASA Terra MODIS & Aqua MODIS, Chinese Space Agency’s FENG YUN, INPE-Brazil’s CBERS & Egypt-NARSS EgyptSat I

NATO SfP KEEO Project TeamRight to Left:M.Shokr (Environment Canada)Magdy Wahab (PPD-Cairo U.)M. Atef (Aero/Astro-Cairo U.)Gülay Altay (KOERI)G.Rochon (NPD-Purdue U.)Okan Ersoy (Purdue U.)Gamal El Afandi(COO-Al Azhar U.)

Mitigation Problems to be Addressed• Natural Disasters

– Earthquakes– Storms & Flooding– Wild Fires– Drought & Desertification– Epidemics & Epizootics– Crop Failure, Famine & Food Insecurity

• Anthropogenic Disasters– Unintentional

• Oil & Chemical Spills• Air Pollution & Water Pollution

– Deliberate• Terrorist Incidents

Disaster Management Stages:Remote Sensing Contributes at each Stage

• Vulnerability Assessment & Remediation• Disaster Preparedness, Drills & Simulations• Early Warning• Emergency Response, Search & Rescue• Humanitarian Relief• Recovery• Post-Disaster Reconstruction

Current Status of Technology• EgyptSat I• Existing Groundstations• Need for Academic Community Access• Fiber Optic Backbone Among Egyptian

Universities• Archival & Real-Time Data• Collaborative Ties with other Data Providers,

Spatial Data Scientists & End-Users within Governmental Ministries, Multi-Lateral Agencies & Universities

Goals of the Project• To establish two groundstations for real-time satellite

remote sensing in Cairo, Egypt, a geostationary groundstation for ESA Meteosat at Al Azhar University and a tracking groundstation at Cairo University, initially for NOAA AVHRR, NASA MODIS Terra & Aqua and EgyptSat I.

• To provide training for faculty, students and Ministry staff & scientific curricular enhancement for utilization of this technology for disaster mitigation, food security, disease vector habitat monitoring and environmental sustainability.

• To collaborate with end-users in research and in supporting operational disaster management & data product dissemination.

Novel Characteristics• Provides real-time data from satellite remote sensing to

Egypt’s academic community for the first time.• Establishes critical redundancy during over-flight

conflicts for data acquisition with Egypt’s National Authority for Remote Sensing & Space Sciences

• Enables Research on Vulnerability Assessment & Best Management Practices for Disaster Mitigation, Early Warning, Humanitarian Response & Recovery within the Egyptian & Regional Contexts

• Provides training and career opportunities for faculty & students addressing applications of space-based technologies for sustainable development, food security & public safety at two Egyptian Universities, with a combined total enrollment of 700,000 students.

Scientific Activities• Collaborative research between the NATO SfP

Partnering Universities and the WHO Regional Office, based in Cairo, to integrate real-time remote sensing & meteorological data with medical ecology data and epidemiological data, so as to identify, map and monitor infectious disease vector habitat, for timely intervention.

• Collaborative interdisciplinary research on the contributing causes , potential mitigating factors & best management practices associated with an array of biogenic & anthropogenic disasters & on the optimal use of remote sensing tools.

Deliverables/Milestones• Bid Specifications/Solicitation & Installation of

Groundstations in first quarter of 2009.• Implementation of Data Dissemination &

Collaborative Research with Ministries, Multi-Lateral Agencies and Academic Departments.

• Relevant Curricular Enhancement &Training for Faculty, Students & End-Users

• Development of a Hub for Broader Access to Near-Real-Time Data Product Distribution

• Video Documentary on the NATO SfP KEEO Collaboration among institutions in Egypt, Turkey & the USA.

Quantified Criteria for Success

• Successful Vendor Selection and Installation of 2 Groundstations during First Quarter, 2009.

• Real-Time Acquisition of ESA Meteosat Data 24 hrs./day 7 days/week

• Real-Time Acquisition of data from at least 3 polar orbiting satellites (e.g NASA MODIS Terra & Aqua, NOAA AVHRR, CBERS, Feng Yun & EgyptSat I) & Near-Real-Time Data Transfer

• Operational Data Utilization by 2 Ministries and 1 UN Agency for Disaster Mitigation.

Quantified Criteria for Success Continued• Training Established for 5 end-users, 10 faculty

and 40 students in application of remote sensing applications for disaster mitigation

• 10-15 minute video documentary completed on the collaboration among NATO sponsored universities in Egypt, Turkey and the USA with their regional end-users of remotely sensed data for disaster early warning & mitigation.

• A Disaster-Mitigation Hub established in FY 2• Publication of 2 peer reviewed journal articles and

presentation at 2 major conferences/year

Institutes Involved & Their Expertise• Cairo University – Giza, Egypt

– Meteorology, Storms, Flooding– Aerospace Engineering, Technology & Applications

• Al Azhar University – Nasr City, Egypt– Meteorology, Drought, Desertification– Environmental Hazard Remediation

• Boğaziçi University – Istanbul, Turkey– Kandilli Observatory & Earthquake Research Institute– Disaster Monitoring, Mitigation & In Situ Sensing

• Purdue University – W. Lafayette, Indiana, USA– Purdue Terrestrial Observatory & Public Health Applications– Remote Sensing & High Performance Computing– Sustainable Development & Environmental Sustainability

Cairo University• Centennial Anniversary on

Dec. 21, 2008• Student Enrollment 200,000• Partner Country Project

Director-PPD: Prof. Dr. M. Magdy Abdel

Wahab, Chair, Dept. of Meteorology & Astronomy, Faculty of Science

• Al Azhar University was founded 988 A.D.- 1,020 years old in 2008 2nd oldest continuous university after the University of Al Karaouine in Fes, Morocco, [859 A.D.].

• Multi-Campus Student Enrollment: 500,000

• Project Co-Director: Dr. Gamal El Afandi, Dept. of Meteorology & Astronomy, Faculty of Science

• Al Azhar University

Boğaziçi University- Kandilli Observatory

& Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI)

• Founded in 1868 in Istanbul, Turkey, during the reign of Abdülâziz, the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

• Project Co-Director, Prof. Dr. Gülay Altay, Director, KOERI

Purdue University-W. Lafayette, Indiana USA

NATO Country Project Director (NPD): Dr. Gilbert Rochon

Co-Director: Dr. Okan Ersoy

• Purdue Terrestrial Observatory

Founded 186969,000 studentsMulti-Campus

Project Management

KEEO ADVISORY BOARD

Collaborators/End-Users• Dr. Mohamed A. Fawzi, Director, Crisis &

Disaster Management Sector, Office of the Prime Minister

• Prof. Dr. Ayman El-Dessouki, Chairman National Authority for Remote Sensing &

Space Sciences (NARSS) & Eng. Belal M. Elleithy, Ground Receiving Manager, NARSS

• Prof. Dr. Ayman Abu Hadid, President, Agricultural Research Center

Collaborators/End Users• Altaf S. Musani, MPH,Regional Advisor, Emergency

Preparedness & Humanitarian Action, WHO• Babiker Abdalla Ibrahim, Ph.D., Regional Project

Coordinator (Egypt, Sudan & Ethiopia) Flood Preparedness & Early Warning-Eastern Nile Technical Office (ENTRO)

• Prof. Dr. Mostafa M. Emara, Director, Science Center for Detection & Remediation of Environmental Hazards (SCDREH) Al Azhar University

• Prof. Dr. Mortada Mourad El-Aref, Director, Basel Convention Regional Training Center & Director, Cairo Univ. Center for Environmental Hazard Mitigation

End-Users & Their Contributions• NARSS- Egypt’s Space Agency is contributing

the expertise of its Aswan Ground Station Manager, access to data from EgyptSat I, joint sharing of data archives & critical redundancy in data collection for orbital conflicts & disaster mitigation.

• Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Center is offering access to their laboratories for ground reference information (e.g. analysis of soil, vegetation, water & insect vector samples).

End-Users/Collaborators• Office of the Prime Minister- is committed to fully

integrating data from the NATO SfP KEEO into their disaster planning, simulation, mitigation & response activities & to provide fellowships for junior faculty and internships for students to obtain operational experience and service learning.

• The WHO Regional Office has welcomed the KEEO team to collaborate in research to develop a spatial database incorporating real-time data on disease vector habitat.

• ENTRO will partner with KEEO on its World-Bank supported Nile Flooding project, sharing data & technical personnel.

Distribution of NATO SfP Funding

EGYPT: 255K EurosTURKEY: 22.5K EurosUSA: 22.5K EurosTOTAL: 300K Euros

How Possible NATO Funding will change the previous research at the

partnering Universities in Egypt• Cairo University• Greatly encourage

multi-disciplinary research & a focus on remote sensing applications for disaster preparedness & environmental hazards, jointly with the Basel Convention.

• Al Azhar University• Significantly impact closer

ties among faculties &departments as well as stronger interactions with UN agencies/governmental ministries for applied research collaborations & simulation exercises.

PROJECT STRENGTHS & OPENESS ISSUES

• The project benefits from a coalition of exceptionally strong research universities in Egypt, Turkey & the USA

• The project has established high level commitment from key government ministries in Egypt, regional offices of the UN and established operatives in both the remote sensing & disaster mitigation communities.

• The project is offering its raw data freely to other universities & will develop a hub for wide dissemination of standard data products

PROJECT’S CONTRIBUTION TO STABILITY, SECURITY & PEACE

• NATO SfP support of this KEEO project will directly enable:– Real-time remote sensing applications for a wide

array of time-critical events, including natural and man-made disasters, public health emergencies, and food security issues

– Closer on-going collaboration between the academic community, governmental ministries and multi-lateral agencies charged with public safety, peaceful resolution of conflict, regional environmental sustainability and sustainable development.

Equal Opportunity Technology: Applications in Africa, Asia & Latin America

• Famine Early Warning (FEWS) Project & Food Security• Africa Real-Time Environmental Monitoring Information

System (ARTEMIS)• African Association for Remote Sensing of Environment

(AARSE)• Precision Agriculture & Water Resources Conservation• Coastal Zone Morphology• Regional Impact of Climate Change• Forest Resource Assessment• Biodiversity & Natural Resource Management• Sustainable Industrial Development Infectious Disease

Vector Habitat Identification

http://modland.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/ ?Korea.A2000097.0235.825x1075.jpg

MODIS Image: April 6, 2000

Korea

36 Bands

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MODIS)

• DOC NOAA- US Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration– AVHRR – Advanced Very

High Resolution Radiometer

HRPT – High Resolution Picture Transmission

• GAC- Global Area Coverage (4 km)

• LAC- Local Area Coverage (1.1 km)

UN FAO ARTEMIS

NOAA AVHRR- UN FAO- ARTEMISFEWS & Desert Locust-

Schistocerca gregaria

Egypt from Space

Need for Moderate Resolution & High

Resolution Data