resilience starts with information
Morocco’s new satellite aims to prevent and manage natural disasters
Mohammed VI-B, a remote sensing Earth observation satellite, was put into orbit via Arianespace’s Vega launcher which lifted off from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.
The satellite is understood to have a panchromatic resolution of 50 cm, and it can take more than 500 images a day, updating its data every six hours.
Arianespace, majority-owned by a joint venture of Airbus and Safran, launched Morocco’s first Earth observation satellite, Mohammed VI-A in November 2017.
Together, the satellites can help Morocco to mobilise resources in cases of natural disasters such as earthquakes and fires through better mapping of affected areas. In terms of agriculture, the satellites will aid in the dynamic mapping of land use, monitoring of crop production status, tracking usage of ground water and overall water consumption patterns. The satellites will also be able to gather of information on droughts and floods…
How a dust storm can harm your health
A major dust storm swept through Sydney and regional New South Wales this week. Red skies over Broken Hill on Wednesday night and Sydney on Thursday resembled those seen during intense bushfire activity and the massive 2009 dust storm.
The NSW government updated its air quality index to “hazardous”. People were advised to stay indoors unless it is essential to go outside, minimise strenuous physical activity and seek emergency medical assistance if they experience breathing difficulties, chest pains, or if other serious health concerns arise.
The hazardous air quality warning arose because fine dust levels were high relative to Australian air quality standards. Air quality levels of PM10 – particles at or less than 10 microns (µg) – were more than twice the Australian standard, of 50 µg/m³ measured over a 24-hour period, on Friday morning…
Japan tourism rebounded in October after slow month in wake of natural disasters
After a slow month caused by a string of natural disasters, Japan’s booming tourism industry appears to be nearly back on track.
Tourism rebounded slightly in October after the number of foreign visitors had dropped the previous month for the first time since 2013 following multiple natural disasters, government data showed Wednesday.
The estimated number of visitors from overseas rose 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 2,640,600 in October, according to the Japan Tourism Agency, but the pace of the increase has not returned to the double-digit levels seen before the disasters…