Satellites are capable of taking stunning images of the Earth from space. However, the data satellites capture goes beyond images as space-based technologies can reveal information previously unseen.
Disaster managers and emergency responders can use the information satellites gather in all stages of the disaster management cycle. Reliable and timely information is essential when it comes to dealing with disasters, especially when infrastructure is hindered or made ineffectual. Space applications and space-based information provide this information in a number of ways. Remote sensing for Earth observation, satellite-based communication and global navigation satellite systems all contribute to more effective disaster risk management.
Before disasters occur, satellite information can aid disaster risk reduction by guiding urban planners and assessing risk exposure. Infrastructure and road networks in rural regions frequently obtained from satellite images ensure that evacuation routes can be planned. Satellite data, particularly from meteorological satellites, can also be used to support forecasting and multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) for hazards such as floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones. Maps of previously affected areas help identify where preventive measures need to be applied. During a disaster, space-based technologies provide disaster managers and emergency responders with information about inaccessible flooded or damaged areas, as well as enabling communication in emergency situations.
Satellite Technology
Earth observation satellites provide valuable data that can be used to track and monitor many types of natural hazards and extreme weather events. They can be used to develop hazard, exposure and risk maps, as well as to map areas which have been affected by floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, landslides and other natural hazards. Increasingly, open-access Earth observation data are combined with geographic information systems (GIS), artificial intelligence (AI) and near real-time analytics to improve hazard monitoring, damage assessments and decision-making.
Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are vital for disaster risk management as the global coverage of the signals provided by these constellations of satellites allows emergency responders to supply coordinates of landing sites to helicopter pilots in areas affected by disasters, even when local communication infrastructure is destroyed. They also help develop more accurate maps of disaster areas and facilitate interoperability of data and information. GNSS are also contributing to an improved understanding of the relative motion of tectonic plates.
Communication satellites are essential when there is a need to transmit messages very rapidly across vast areas. Disasters often leave local communication infrastructure incapacitated and disaster managers are unable to coordinate emergency response efforts. Communication satellites help the coordination and communication between local disaster management agencies in the field and elsewhere for effective resource allocation and policy decision-making. They also offer the possibility of transmitting tsunami warnings very quickly from one continent to another, in addition to other relevant information.
The Satellite Technology section provides further details about different types of satellites.
Emergency Mechanisms
To facilitate universal access to space-based information for disaster risk management, the international community has established a series of international mechanisms. Mechanisms such as the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters” and the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) support disaster risk management and emergency response operations through the provision of information products derived from satellite data to monitor the situation on the ground. UN-SPIDER promotes these international mechanisms among disaster management organizations in order to ensure they have timely and relevant information when disasters strike. The Emergency Mechanisms section provides an overview of these mechanisms and their procedures and workflows.
International Asteroid Warning Network
The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) is a virtual network linking together the institutions performing functions such as discovering, monitoring and physically characterizing the potentially hazardous near-Earth object (NEO) population and maintaining an internationally recognized clearing house for the receipt, as well as the acknowledgement and processing of all near-Earth object observations. Recognizing the need to reach national disaster management agencies, IAWN has established links with the UN-SPIDER programme to raise their awareness about NEOs. Although impacts from NEOs are rare, they represent potentially high-consequence hazards requiring international coordination and preparedness.
International Space Weather Initiative
Sudden bursts of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's atmosphere called together with sudden brightening of radiation, or solar flares, and high-speed solar winds could cause space weather effects here on Earth. Space weather events can produce electromagnetic fields that can disrupt or damage space-borne and ground-based technological systems, such as power lines and navigation systems. The International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI) is a programme of international cooperation to advance space weather science by a combination of instrument deployment, analysis and interpretation of space weather data from the deployed instruments in conjunction with space data, and by communicating the results to the public and students.
Space Technologies at the United Nations
The UN has also recognised the usefulness of space-based information and plays an important role in managing and promoting their use. Many UN departments frequently use and benefit from the use of space-based information. This section provides a few examples. Space-based information also supports the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
User Stories
The user stories and case studies in this section provide evidence through real-world examples of the usefulness and diverse application options that space-based information is able to offer. They address a wide range of application examples.
