Africa’s CSSTE and GMES records the West African flood case data bank

The GMES and Africa system of CSSTE comprises one of 12 companies information sources providing historical and real-time data for individuals, companies and governments in Western Africa. The CSSTE Programme, which involves seven partners from five West African countries, was called the Multiple Flood Monitoring and Evaluation Services for West Africa (MiFMASS). Partners include Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. The MIFMASS project is planned for the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS) to develop a flood monitoring and forecast program. The Consortium has recognized the persistent and visible gap in flood disaster data quality and developed an updated flood event database. 

“The MIFMASS Updating Flood Event database is one of the goods and services that the Consortium offers to reduce flood disaster effects and improve the ability of DMOs, using data from the Earth Observation Office, to fulfil their mandates” 

“Therefore, it’s a perfect tool for Disaster Management Organizations, government and foreign organizations to provide appropriate assistance for affected areas in the event of a disaster, through their records database recording a quantitative and qualitative flood occurrence. The data may vary from a geographical area, disaster forms (e.g., river or flash flood), physically or economically affected victims to injury.’ “This database can help to recognize and execute tailored initiatives through countries of interest. This can also help the creation of flood sensitivity maps by means of spatial layers of factors that can lead to floods. At the completion of the GMES and Africa plan for the survival of this commodity should be moved to the national DMOs in Western Africa. 

The database is currently being reviewed and will be publicly accessible soon. GMES & Africa is an action plan launched for a long-term coordinated dialogue on EO systems between Africa and Europe in order to address global needs, to control the environment, consider and mitigate climate change implications and to ensure civil safety in real-time by educating policymakers, academics, businesses and the public. On an operational basis in Africa, GMES & Africa will facilitate the growth of the local, institutional, human and technological capacities for access and operation of EO-based services.

Data Source: Space in Africa