Center for International Earth Science Information Network
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CIESIN works at the intersection of the social, natural, health, and information sciences. The center specializes in on-line data and information management, spatial data integration and training, and interdisciplinary research and education related to human interactions in the environment. CIESIN is a research center within the Earth Institute at Columbia University, based at Columbia's Lamont campus in Palisades, New York.
CIESIN seeks to improve disaster risk assessment and mitigation efforts at local, national, and international levels through interdisciplinary analysis and data integration, with a particular focus on the exposure and vulnerability of population, livelihoods, and infrastructure in a sustainable development context. CIESIN also aims to expand understanding of how multiple stresses on society and environment--including population growth, poverty, migration, climate change, conflict, pollution, and land degradation--may interact to produce disasters, and how stresses can be managed to reduce disaster risk.
CIESIN has conducted interdisciplinary research on disasters for more than a decade, focused primarily on improving risk estimation through improved exposure and vulnerability data and intercomparison of the risks of different hazards. CIESIN also provides training on use of geospatial data and analysis in disaster risk management and develops interdisciplinary data and information resources to support the research and practitioner communities.
CIESIN is a member of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association, the Open Geospatial Consortium, the Alliance for Earth Observations, and the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners, and is active in the Group on Earth Observations, the UN Geographic Information Working Group, the Global Earthquake Model initiative, the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk program of the International Council for Science (ICSU), and the ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA). CIESIN operates the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), part of the NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System.
Dr. Robert S. Chen, CIESIN Director and SEDAC Manager
http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu
http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu
Leadership role in the Data Sharing Working Group of the Group on Earth Observations
Participation in the Global Exposure Database for the Global Earthquake Model (GED4GEM) project
Project on Developing Global Building Exposure for Disaster Forecasting, Mitigation, and Response
Provision of data and services on population, settlements, hazards, land cover, and other features through open standards
Provision of online maps and web mapping tools on disaster-related topics.
Provision of scientific advice and guidance on climate adaptation, vulnerability, and resilience
Provision of online analytic tools and data on exposure, vulnerability, and risk to support disaster mitigation efforts
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.