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Under the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters," value-added products similar to these (produced in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami) could potentially be created by PDC to support disaster response in the Asia Pacific region.
Click on the thumbnails for full images.
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As shown by recent events such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, the role of space technology in major disasters is an indispensable asset to response and recovery operations. However, initiating satellite image acquisitions, collecting and processing vital supporting data, and quickly putting information into the hands of emergency managers requires intensive international coordination.
To address this need, the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" was formally established in 2000. The so-called "International Charter" provides authorized users--including national civil defense agencies--access to a wide array of space-based information that support disaster response. Today, participants in the Charter include agencies from the European Union, United States, France, Canada, Argentina, and Japan.
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Participants in September's International Charter training, which initiated PDC's participation in the agreement as a Project Manager.
(Photo: JAXA)
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The Pacific Disaster Center has now been selected to play an important role by serving as a "Project Manager" to support one of the Charter's newest agencies, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS).
"PDC will work closely with EROS to coordinate disaster response information needs in the Asia Pacific region," explains PDC Senior Manager Chris Chiesa, who attended a training workshop for new Charter members during September in the United Kingdom. "As indicated by Charter protocols, we could receive a call at any time if a disaster strikes to coordinate space data acquisition and delivery needs."
PDC's Project Manager duties would include accurately interpreting and processing raw satellite data, as well creating special "value-added" information products. PDC would then be responsible for ensuring that this information is delivered to the end users as expediently as possible. Following final delivery, PDC would submit a formal report to the International Charter Executive Secretariat.
Since its founding, the Charter has been activated nearly 100 times. In the Asia Pacific region, it has supported response and recovery activities to events including landslides in the Philippines (December 2003), tropical cyclones in the South Pacific (February 2005), flooding in India and China (June 2005), and the Great Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami (December 2004).
Concludes Chiesa, "We saw first hand from our Indian Ocean tsunami response that the demand for space-based information is tremendous during times of crisis. We believe that this experience has positioned us to be an important contributor to the International Charter during major disasters."
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