Chris Albon leads us to UNOSAT’s latest and frankly greatest production – a map of Somali pirate activity. Pirates are no laughing matter, but all this map lacks is a big X to show where they buried all the WFP food shipments they’ve been hijacking. I have no idea how this post provides any insight into how technology can support the humanitarian community, but hey – pirates.
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This time last year, I would have thought nothing of it. But now, I do get surprised when I see a static, non-dynamic map. I wonder when the UN will move towards more dynamic mapping. We may just be sharing portable layers in the future, no? Hopefully the ‘Humanitarian Sensor Web’ will help in that regard.
Makes me want to pick up Enid Blyton and read the Famous Five’s adventure in Kirrin Island with pirates! Good stuff.
As seriously, saw The Hunting Party with Gere and Terrence Howard the other day. This post reminded me that far more than any satellite imagery, it’s political will that often determines when and where X marks the spot.
Well, first UNGIWG has to finish building a comprehensive SDI based on assumptions which will probably be out of date by the time before the SDI is finished
There’ll always be a requirement for static maps, though – people want to have the map in their hand when they head into the field, or on the wall of their office with pins in.
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Pirates seize luxury French yacht
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hnr6J_axkSuo1D9JySPEGO1L5VjQ
Strategies lead to tactics, and tactics to patterns over space and time. Would dynamic mapping enable the detection of such patterns in the Gulf of Aden? The ‘Eyes on Darfur’ project has identified certain patterns vis-a-vis the tactical movement of the Janjaweed. I think the next step in conflict early warning/response is the increasing use of change detection vis-a-vis satellite imagery, which the EC’s Joint Research Center is pioneering.
I hope that the next step in conflict early warning is remote sensing analysis – in fact, I hope that it starts to get used a bit more sensibly by everybody. The UNOSAT products are nice and useful, and (as I’ve said earlier) there’ll always be a requirement for static maps – but where on earth are the image analysts?