SERVIR now in Africa to help with diseases, disasters

William Atkins
Friday, 21 November 2008 21:51

Science - Climate

NASA and USAID have expanded their global information system, called SERVIR, into Africa in order to provide African countries with previously inaccessible information on such national concerns as natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and climate change.


The NASA news release “NASA and USAID bring Earth-observation benefits to Africa” reports that SERVIR-Africa was dedicated on Friday, November 21, 2008, in Nairobi, Kenya.

USAID is short for the United States Agency for International Development, which is a U.S. government agency that provides economic and humanitarian assistance to the world's peoples.

The NASA report states, “SERVIR, Spanish for 'to serve,' has been in operation in Central America, the Caribbean and southern Mexico since 2005."

"Now, through the support of multiple government agencies and other organizations, NASA and USAID are expanding the system to Africa in partnership with the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development [RCMRD] in Nairobi. The center, an intergovernmental organization with 15 member states in eastern and southern Africa, is a leader in geospatial mapping in the region.”

RCMRD director of remote sensing and geographic information systems Tesfaye Korme, stated, “A satellite birds-eye view can provide an overall picture of a natural disaster, such as a flood, and its consequences. Using the SERVIR-Africa platform, we will be able to develop near-real time maps of flood-affected areas to estimate the number of displaced people and locate potential transportation disruptions."

SERVIR-Africa will help Africa, for instance, better predict areas that are at risk of flooding, along with provide an early-warning system to predict vector-borne diseases such as Rift Valley Fever.

In addition, SERVIR-Africa will have the ability to use the Internet to gather data from numerous satellites and ground-based Earth observation sites in order to assist in natural and human-made disasters and other environmental, ecological, and natural resource situations that may arise.

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