Crises and conflicts are constantly on the rise worldwide, making governmental and non-governmental organisations increasingly dependent on precise, up-to-date and spatially differentiated information. The tasks of humanitarian actors and state organisations in the event of a crisis are diverse and range from coordinating first responders to securing basic needs and protecting the population in threatening situations. In order to fulfil these tasks, appropriate information must be made available.
SOVEREIGN supports the work of authorities and aid organisations in the event of a crisis at home and abroad by providing them with up-to-date situation information as required. Important components of a situation picture include, for example, up-to-date information on local damage to infrastructure, but also on other man-made or human-induced changes, for example as a result of resettlement, displacement or reconstruction measures.
Building on DLR's expertise in earth observation and multimodal data evaluation, SOVEREIGN pursues a multi-scale and flexibly adaptable monitoring approach in which situation information from various data sources is incorporated and combined. The resulting methodology for data-driven monitoring of changes can be used internationally as well as transferred to national requirements.
The Institute of Data Science contributes to the development, implementation and testing of the monitoring system through the complementary integration of situation information from web data, such as websites and social media. Both official warnings and reports as well as reports from private individuals play an important role in shortening response times and making contributions from various actors available in a common situation picture.
The added value of the information in combination with earth observation data is being investigated in two scenarios:
the targeted collection and evaluation of situation information regarding already known events as a basis for combining and enriching existing satellite-based products, and
continuous monitoring to identify critical events and affected regions in web data as a basis for further spatial analyses based on earth observation data.
The foundation for the exchange of knowledge between DLR and humanitarian and governmental actors is laid through a needs analysis at the beginning of the project and the developments are regularly discussed with the users during the course of the project. The data and results from SOVEREIGN will be made available in line with demand by combining them with external data sources, visualising them dynamically and making them available via other interfaces.
The results of SOVEREIGN help to identify options for action in acute crisis situations, quickly recognise the effects of threats and implement the necessary crisis management measures in a targeted manner. The project takes into account the constantly changing global situation and continuously adapts its processes to meet current and future challenges. SOVEREIGN is therefore not only part of the answer to current challenges, but is also developing a future-proof infrastructure for global crisis management.
