Memoranda of understanding (MOUs) have been signed between Synspective, a Japanese SAR satellite data solution provider, and two Central Asian countries: Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The agreements facilitate collaboration for the prediction, management and mitigation of large-scale earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, and floods across these nations.
Uzbekistan's collaboration is managed by the Centre for Space Monitoring and Geoinformation Technologies and aims to utilise interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technology for risk evaluation.
This sophisticated technology provides high-resolution imagery of the Earth's surface and is essential for monitoring land displacement. This could potentially identify seismic risks in Uzbekistan, facilitating improved disaster preparedness and mitigation. Previously, large-scale earthquakes and landslides in Uzbekistan and nearby areas underscored a pressing need for effective land disaster prediction and management.
In Kazakhstan, Synspective and Gharysh Sapary, the national space agency, focus on creating innovative applications for Earth remote sensing and radar data in disaster management. This initiative seeks solutions to landslides, mudflows and floods, and aims to manage infrastructure effectively to lessen climate change effects.
Furthermore, the partnership aims to foster international commercial projects, allowing Synspective to leverage its satellite data and analytics capabilities, while affording Gharysh Sapary the opportunity to amplify its technological talents and explore this emerging technology's further potentials.
Synspective’s founder and CEO, Motoyuki Arai, expressed his enthusiasm for these collaborations, stating, "Partnering with Uzbekistan’s Center for Space Monitoring and Geoinformation Technologies and the KGS in Kazakhstan marks another step forward in our mission to make SAR data accessible and beneficial across various global industries for challenging social issues with partners."
He further added that such partnerships contribute to building resilient infrastructure and promoting the efficient and secure use of natural resources and energy in Central Asia and Japan, while continually improving technological resources to support these efforts.
Aliyev Soibjon, Director of Center for Space Monitoring and Geoinformation Technologies in Uzbekistan, emphasised the importance of the partnership stating, "The mutually beneficial strategic partnership established in recent years between the two countries serves as a favourable basis for the further expansion of bilateral cooperation in many sectors, including in the field of space technology."
He indicated that the collaboration with Synspective is a prime example of successful bilateral interaction.
Aidyn Aimbetov, Chairman of the Board of JSC National Company Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary, also commented on the partnerships and stated, "The accumulated experience of Kazakhstan’s specialists in radar technologies will allow us to begin new projects with the Japanese company Synspective."
"Joint cooperation and the use of Japanese advanced technologies and the potential of Kazakhstan can be the main solution for the successful implementation of these projects."