Pakistan’s location on the globe and climatic conditions make it prone   to   disasters including, cyclones/storms, droughts, earthquakes, floods,  epidemics, glacial lake outbursts, landslides, avalanches and tsunamis. Human induced hazards that threaten the country include transport, industries, oil spills, urban, civil conflicts and internal displacements of communities due to multiple factors. October 08, 2005 earthquake in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtoon  Khwa (KPK) province affected 2.5 million people with a death toll of  approximately 78000. Similarly   massive floods of 2010   affected 20 million people   and a loss of billions of dollars. Understanding the interaction of hazards, exposure and vulnerability is important for effective disaster mitigation. Risk assessments are therefore fundamental in  disaster risk reduction (DRR) and recovery.

Space based data from MODIS, ASTER and SPOT satellites are used for early warning and  post-disaster damages   assessment. Such   satellite   aided rapid mapping provides much needed information to Government and Non- Government Organizations for relief and rehabilitation work, especially in a situation when no ground communication links were available.

Use of  satellite Remote Sensing, GIS and allied techniques for pre and post disaster activities such as satellite based disaster monitoring, multi-hazards risk analysis and satellite based disaster risk management has proven more cost effective and rapid.

The main objective of this training course is to develop national capacity in the application of Geo-Spatial Techniques  in this area.