In the event of a large scale disaster, satellite images help get collective heads around the scope of the actual and potential damages. Incident management teams love satellite images as much as the news media and public. Large scale maps and images helped everyone comprehend the effects of the I ndonesia tsunami , the Hurricane Katrina flooding , and the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico . What many may not realize is that those images often come from numerous satellites launched and managed by several countries around the globe. In the event of a large scale event, a request from the emergency manager initiates a complex but rapid chain of international phone calls and agreements. Upon approval, orbiting satellites with a multitude of sensors for different purposes are redirected to provide fly-over imagery of the disaster over a several days to assist emergency managers. Providing this global response capability is made possible through the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters . The agreement was initiated in 1999 and became operational on November 1, 2000. Coincidentally, the first activation of the Charter occurred just 10 days later to assist incident responders to the Slovenian landslide . Today, the Charter participants include agencies from the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Japan, China, Europe, and soon Russia.
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It’s no longer possible for one person to have all the information available on emergency management and homeland security.
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