The Full Picture

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Improved use of satellites for risk management

GEO DI-06-09 Steering Committee: Guy Séguin, Chair, Canadian Space Agency;

Stephen Ambrose, NASA; Robert Backhaus, DLR; Jérôme Béquignon, ESA;

Andrew Eddy, Athena Global; Jérôme Lafeuille, WMO; Francesco Pisano, UNOSAT;

Giovanni Rum, GEO Secretariat and David Stevens, UNOOSA

n recent decades, both the frequency and impact of great

natural disasters have been increasing. Great disasters are

those that overtax the ability of regional authorities to

respond, requiring international assistance. The increase in the

world’s population, increased development in coastal areas and

increased vulnerability of modern societies have all contributed

to the greater impact of disasters, particularly hydrological

events such as typhoons and hurricanes, which are the most

frequent hazards and, after earthquakes, the most costly in

terms of loss of life.

Satellite contributions

Weather satellites have for many years made well-recognized contri-

butions to disaster warning and prevention, particularly hydrological

disasters. More recently, other Earth observation satellites are being

used to improve the management of a broader range of natural disas-

ters. This can be achieved through better assessment of risk before

events take place, providing accurate warnings of where disasters

will occur, assessing the situation of critical infrastructure after an

event or supporting the recovery process long after the disaster is

over. Dozens of Earth observation satellites orbit the world collect-

ing imagery in the visible, near-infrared and even microwave

spectrum. The images provide information about the effects of

hazards derived from low and high-resolution data. The data from

these satellites can be integrated into disaster warning systems to

improve their utility, and may be used to generate maps and prod-

ucts that assist responders in determining the most affected areas

and the status of infrastructure. Group on Earth

Observation (GEO) members aim to improve access to

these unique data sets for disaster managers and ensure

that critical observations are sustained over the long

term. In the context of GEO, member states are also

examining how to ensure operational integration of data

into disaster management decision support systems and

develop capacity for improved use of satellite imagery.

Regional initiatives

Following the UNISPACE III conference in July 1999,

the European and French space agencies (ESA and

CNES) initiated the international charter Space and

Major Disasters (the Charter), whose membership now

includes the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), US National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and

US Geological Survey (USGS), Indian Space Research

Organization (ISRO), Argentine Space Agency

(CONAE), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

(JAXA), British National Space Centre/DMC and the

China National Space Administration (CNSA). The

Charter provides a unified system of space data acqui-

sition and delivery to emergency authorities affected by

natural or man-made disasters through authorized users.

This system has been activated over 150 times, with

more than 30 calls in 2007 alone.

In Europe, the Global Monitoring for Environment

and Security (GMES) programme of the EU and ESA

has identified emergency response as a fast-track core

service for implementation. The programme recently

released a strategic implementation plan that outlines

the context for emergency response, the services GMES

will make available to responders, and the technology

available to address these needs.

In parallel, 18 Asian countries have come together to

form Sentinel Asia, a ‘voluntary and best-efforts-basis

initiative’ led by the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency

Forum. Sentinel Asia’s role is to share disaster informa-

tion in the Asia-Pacific region on the Digital Asia

(Web-GIS) platform and to make the best use of Earth

observation satellite data for disaster management in the

region. It will initially be an Internet-based, node-distrib-

uted, information distribution backbone, eventually

distributing relevant satellite and in situ spatial infor-

Hurricane Isabel from space

Source: Courtesy of NASA

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