A decade of disaster monitoring
Friday, February 25. 2011
Celebrating 10 years of success, members of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) and representatives from 12 different countries, the European Space Agency and six UK government departments met up in London last week for the 13th DMC Consortium Meeting. The UK Space Agency, SSTL and DMC International Imaging (DMCii) jointly hosted the day – the theme ‘Vision for the next Decade of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation’.
Halilu Ahmad Shaba, Nigeria and Eleni Paliouras, ESA in a panel discussion at the Consortium Meeting
DMCii works with the world’s space agencies and the United Nations (UN) within the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters to provide multi-spectral and panchromatic optical imagery during disasters. The constellation responds to disasters frequently and has played an important role responding to disasters such as the Asian Tsunami (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005), and the UK floods (2007). The constellation has also very rapidly supplied imagery for the recent earthquake in New Zealand.
SSTL’s cost effective approach to satellite design lowered the price tag of Earth Observation to the point where governments and organisations throughout the world could own an independent satellite, providing cost effective sovereign remote sensing capability with shared ground segment, image processing and commercial distribution – and play an essential role in international disaster response.
Continue reading "A decade of disaster monitoring"
