Members of international relief organisations participate successfully in Respond User Training at DLR

The practical training event from 28th-29th May 2008 is one among several outreach and information activities of Respond to give members of relief organisations a better understanding of products derived from satellite imagery. During different hands-on sessions participants were acquainted with geographical information systems (GIS), satellite image interpretation and the use of Respond products such as crisis maps and geoinformation for emergency response and relief activities during humanitarian disasters. Additionally, trainers and participants got into a cooperative discussion about Respond user requirements and technical improvements on Respond products.

Respond is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) within the European GMES (Global Monitoring of Environment and Security) initiative. The project is an alliance of European and International organisations working with the humanitarian aid community to improve access to maps, satellite imagery and geographic information.

The German Aerospace Centre (DLR) service unit Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI) within the German Remote Sensing Data Centre (DFD) has organised the training event in close cooperation with ESA and Respond partners SERTIT and Infoterra UK Ltd.

"With this successful training we combined capacities and interests of several Respond service users with hands-on introductions to GIS-Mapping and satellite image interpretation techniques", Dr. Schneiderhan, Respond coordinator at DLR explained. "During two days training sessions, that were divided into practical and theoretical introductions, participants received a good overview about Respond and its services", Dr. Voigt, ZKI team leader concluded.

Respond service users of international relief organisations like the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), the Spanish Red Cross (CRE) and others have assessed the latest Respond user training provided by ZKI as very useful.