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First satellite map of Haiti earthquake (Forwarded)



 
 
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Old January 15th 10, 12:19 AM posted to sci.space.news
Andrew Yee[_1_]
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Default First satellite map of Haiti earthquake (Forwarded)

ESA news
http://www.esa.int

14 January 2010

First satellite map of Haiti earthquake

A major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Haitian capital of
Port-au-Prince on 12 January, causing major casualties and damage. The quake
was followed by several aftershocks with magnitudes over 5.0.

Such a powerful earthquake can make current maps suddenly out of date,
causing additional challenges to rescue workers on the ground. Earth
observation satellite images can help rescue efforts by providing updated
views of how the landscape and the infrastructure have been affected.

Following the event, the French Civil Protection authorities, the Public
Safety of Canada, the American Earthquake Hazards Programme of USGS and the
UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti requested satellite data of the area from
the International Charter on 'Space and Major Disasters'. The initiative,
referred to as 'The Charter', is aimed at providing satellite data free of
charge to those affected by disasters anywhere in the world.

To meet the requirements of the rescue teams in Haiti, Very High Resolution
imagery is needed from both optical and radar sensors. Through the Charter,
the international space community is acquiring satellite imagery as quickly
as possible. Currently, data are being collected by various satellites
including Japan's ALOS, CNES's Spot-5, the U.S.'s WorldView and QuickBird,
Canada's RADARSAT-2 and ESA's ERS-2 and Envisat.

Satellite imagery acquired immediately after the event are used to generate
emergency maps to provide rescue services with an overview of the current
state of the area. These can be compared with situation maps generated from
archived satellite data to identify major changes on the ground caused by
the disaster.

Comparison of the maps from before and after the event allows areas that
have been hit hardest to be distinguished and identify passable routes for
relief and rescue workers. Additionally, they can help to identify areas
which are suitable for setting up aid camps where medical support and
shelter can be provided to people.

Radar satellites are able to peer through clouds, which is an asset when
weather conditions prevent the use of optical satellite instruments. Radar
imagery can be used to identify hazards such as landslides that may be
triggered by earthquakes. In the long term, radar data can also be processed
to map surface deformations caused by earthquakes to help scientists
understand better seismic events.

The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security's SAFER project is
collaborating with the Charter to provide a specialised capacity to produce
damage maps over the area. SAFER's value-adding providers SERTIT from
Strasbourg and the German Aerospace Centre's (DLR) centre for
satellite-based crisis information (ZKI) from Munich are currently working
on this.

In the framework of SAFER, other user organisations, including the German
Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance and the UN World
Food Programme, have requested damage-mapping services. Based on the
collaboration between the Charter and SAFER, the first space-maps derived
from crisis data acquired on 13 January were produced by SERTIT within 24
hours as rapid situation maps to help locate damaged areas with up-to-date
cartographic material.

Together with ESA and CNES, the Charter, founded in 2000, currently has 10
members: the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), the Argentine Space Agency (CONAE), the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA), the British National Space Centre/Disaster Monitoring
Constellation (BNSC/DMC), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the China
National Space Administration (CNSA).

Via the Charter mechanism, all of these agencies have committed to provide
free and unrestricted access to their space assets to support relief efforts
in the immediate aftermath of a major disaster.

The Charter also collaborates with other satellite damage-mapping
initiatives within the UN such as the UNITAR/UNOSAT team who is receiving
support from the U.S. government to analyse satellite imagery to be provided
to the Haitian government, UN sister agencies and NGOs.

To learn more about the Charter and to find updated maps on the Haiti
earthquake, please visit the links on the right.

[NOTE: Images and weblinks suppporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM5G7MJ74G_index_0.html ]

 




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