THE ROLE OF SATELLITE REMOTE-SENSING IN DISASTER RELIEF

The new generation of moderate resolution earth sensing satellites such as the French SPOT and the American Landsat, as well as several types of Soviet satellites, appear to have both sufficient spatial and sufficient spectral resolution to be used as data sources for use in assessing damage after a catastrophic disaster and to predict certain kinds of disasters. This article points out some of the unique applications for remotely sensed data in aiding disaster mitigation such as automated classification of several damaged and less damaged areas; merging of satellite data with a GIS database to estimate both casualties and surviving resources; and the production of computer-drawn "before-and-after" views of the scene. The paper also describes some potentially useful organizational structures which might support the acquisition and distribution of the information. These include construction of a dedicated DisasterSat system to be operated by an international organization, a construction-lease back scheme, and secure arrangements with operators of general purpose remote sensing satellites. Some estimates of the cost of a dedicated DisasterSat space segment are also made.