Space blog - Entries tagged as dmcii

UK-DMC-2 snaps flooding worldwide

Friday, November 11. 2011

DMCii has acquired images of flooding in both El Salvador and Ghana - just two of the many floods that have taken place recently worldwide.

El Salvador in South America was hit by a tropical depression at the end of October. Torrential rains resulted in rockslides, landslides and widespread destruction of crops and homes. Water levels rose by a reported 3m and it is said that up 10% of the country was flooded. The aftermath of this extreme weather can be seen in this image taken by UK-DMC-2 on the 21st October.

El Savador after Flooding, Central America. UK-DMC2 Image.

Accra in Ghana also experienced heavy rains that started on the 25th October. The nation’s capital is a low-lying area and prone to flooding. However it is unusual in October as the rainy season is June to August in Ghana. The flooding has led to sanitation fears and massive disruption of transport links.

Accra, Ghana. UK-DMC2 Image.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Remote sensing at 14:38 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Defined tags for this entry: disaster

, dmcii

, el salvador

, geospatial

, ghana

, uk-dmc-2

UK-DMC2 satellite captures Oregon wildfires

Wednesday, September 7. 2011

This week DMCii has acquired satellite images of the Dollar Lake Fire in Oregon, USA showing the devastation caused by the current wildfires. According to officials, the fire is burning across 4,378 acres. There are now concerns that that strong winds and high temperatures may fuel the fire that is running close to Bull Run watershed, which is the main source of drinking water for people in Portland and many of its suburbs.

Dollar Lake Fire, Oregon. UK-DMC2 Image © DMCii, 2011. All rights reserved.
Click to view larger image.

The fire started on the Labor Day holiday, September 5, 2011 at 5:06 p.m and is believed to have been caused by lightning. Emergency services are fighting to contain the fire with some nine helicopters and twenty four fire engines.

This satellite image is shown for illustrative purposes only. For news updates you may wish to visit on the Oregon Live website. There are updates on the Dollar Lake Fires at the Northwest Inter-agency Coordination Center.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in Remote sensing at 16:21 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Defined tags for this entry: disaster

, dmcii

, geospatial

, oregon

, uk-dmc2

David Cameron, Wen Jibao witness DMC3 signing

Thursday, June 30. 2011

Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao witnessed the signing of a £110m satellite imaging deal between SSTL subsidiary DMCii and Beijing-based company 21AT during the UK-China trade summit at 10 Downing Street.

Mme Wu Shuang and Sir Prof. Martin Sweeting (left) sign agreement

China’s rapid growth has prompted unparalleled demand for satellite imagery, which can be used for urban planning, change detection and disaster monitoring.

In a new way of requiring satellite imagery, 21AT will be leasing 100% of the DMC3 constellation’s capacity from DMCii, giving them the flexibility to quickly receive the images they need, but without the complexity associated with operating three satellites.

DMC3 will be powered by three SSTL-300S1 satellites, SSTL’s new smallsat design which provides unparalleled 1 metre high resolution imagery with high speed downlink and 45 degrees off-pointing.

Posted by Robin Wolstenholme in In the news at 15:22 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Defined tags for this entry: capacity leasing

, david cameron

, dmcii

, sstl

, wen jiabao

Satellites respond to Mississippi floods

Friday, May 20. 2011

DMCii, SSTL’s imaging subsidiary, has been responding to an International Charter: Space and Major Disasters emergency activation for the flooding of Mississippi river in Central Midwest USA. The current flooding is approaching records set 84 years ago and it’s the first time in 40 years the level of the Mississippi has forced the floodgates to be opened. The UK has just taken over the chairmanship of the International Charter, and we take a closer look at the emergencies around the world that DMCii is providing satellites images for right now.

Fed by rainwater and the spring thaw, the Mississippi river and its tributaries have caused massive flooding upstream, and officials have said the flooding in Louisiana is the worst since 1927. About 25,000 people and 11,000 buildings could be adversely affected and the disaster’s Project Manager in the USA is using data from Charter members, including DMCii, to assess the situation. The flooding in the Mississippi delta has required an extended imaging campaign as the floods develop.

Flooding in Kentucky USA, before and after taken on 30/09/2010 and 04/05/2011. UK-DMC2 Image (C) DMCii, 2011. All rights reserved.

The dry and unusually warm spring has brought wild fires to several parts of the UK and DMCii has recently been “called in” to image a fire that broke out at the Belmont moor in Lancashire. On the other side of the World Mexico has also recently experienced raging fires, causing an activation of the International Charter. DMCii responded by tasking UK-DMC2 to image the area. Wild fires are common in Mexico at this time of year, but high temperatures and strong winds have meant that the country has experienced the worst fire season in 30 years, with the northern part of the country hit especially hard.

Fire in Belmont, UK 29/04/2011. UK-DMC2 Image (C) DMCii, 2011. All rights reserved.

DMCii operates the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, a currently five-strong commercial satellite constellation made available on behalf of the UK as part of the Charter satellite fleet. Emergency on-Call Officers (ECOs) make themselves ready on a rotation basis to respond to International disasters on a 24/7 basis and task the Charter’s combined satellites in the event of an activation.

DMCii also has a place on the International Charter’s Executive Secretariat, which implements the day-to-day operation of the Charter.

The Constellation recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary at a Consortium meeting in London, focusing on how the constellation can be developed in the future, which you could read about here on the Space blog.