ERS
GMES Emergency Response Service
The GMES Emergency Response Service is the GMES service that intends to build the European Union capacity to react to both natural, man made disasters and humanitarian crisis.
The GMES Emergency Response Service will provide all actors involved in the management of humanitarian crises, natural disasters, and manmade emergency situations, with timely and high quality products derived from space observations for use in the response phase, such as:
- preparedness, recovery and refugee / IDP products (available in non-rush mode);
- emergency response products (available in rush mode ; first products generated within 24 hours).
GMES Emergency Response Service is expanding its services towards the crisis-prevention (pre-disaster) and post-disaster management by undertaking/developing hazard and risk analysis, fore-casting and early warning products and services.
Many types of disasters are being addressed: natural disasters (floods, fires, landslides, storms, earthquakes, etc.), technological accidents (oil spills, vehicle accidents, etc.) and humanitarian crises (for instance famine after a severe period of drought).
The GMES Emergency Response Service cooperates and coordinates with major initiatives in the domain, for example with the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters”.
For more information please refer to SAFER project website
GMES Emergency Response users
Users of the GMES Eemrgency Response Service are:
- National / EU Civil Protection authorities and Fire and Rescue Services, federated by their respective National / EC user Focal Point;
- International organizations involved in humanitarian activities (UN, NGOs, etc.).
GMES Emergency Response benefits
Major benefits from the use of the GMES Emergency Response Service products and services are:
- Access to products and services for any geographical area worldwide, (satellite imagery can be acquired anywhere in the world);
- Pre-disaster reference products covering major crisis areas worldwide;
- Timeliness of post-disaster information, available within 24 hours from receipt of request;
- In-field information delivery, (delivery of the geo-information products to wherever they are needed by users, e.g. in-field, in crisis rooms, in coordination centres, etc.);
- Support in all Emergency Response phases, as the GMES Emergency Response Service will produce pre-event, post-event and crisis follow- up products;
- Customer support, providing software and hardware tools necessary to easily integrate GMES Emergency Response Service products in your current operational workflows.
How to access GMES Emergency Response
Access to the GMES Emergency Response Service is granted to registered users. If you are:
- a National / EC user Focal Point, you are a registered user by default an you can use the GMES ERS toolbox to activate the Service, request specific mapping products, download and manipulate them, provide your feedback (for more details, visit Activate GMES ERS - NFP) ;
- a End User within the EU, you may refer to your National / EC user Focal Point to have access to the GMES ERS toolbox. Using the GMES ERS toolbox you will be able to submit a request for activation to your National / EC user Focal Point that will complete it and that will activate the GMES Emergency Response Service. Once mapping products are ready, you can download and manipulate them using the GMES ERS toolbox, providing your feedback (for more details, visit Activate GMES ERS - End User);
- a End User outside the EU, you may not be a registered user. Please contact the GMES Emergency Response Service Focal Point in order to require your registration application form (e-mail contact).
GMES Emergency Response workflow
The following picture depicts the current workflow of the GMES Emergency Response Service.
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