Disasters are of major global concern and reducing disaster risk is an urgent priority for the humanitarian/development community world­wide. Nearly every country in the world is affected by natural hazards but natural disasters cause most damage and fatalities in developing countries. For the sake of improved disaster management and the re­duction of disaster impacts it is necessary to know where the people who are most at risk are living. Therefore, the focus of this book is on populations threatened by natural disasters.
Stefan Schneiderbauer develops the theoretical base and applicatory...

David Stevens Space-based information, which includes earth observation data, is increasingly becoming an integral part of our lives. We have been relying for decades on data obtained from meteorological satellites for updates on the weather and to monitor weather-related natural disasters such as hurricanes. We now count on our personal satellite-based navigation systems to guide us to the nearest Starbucks Coffee and use web-based applications such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth to study the area of places we will or would like to visit. At the same time, satellite-based...