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One of the most important responses to any kind ofdisaster is the re-establishment of effective communications.With communications, governments and local authorities canidentify the precise cause and outcome of the disaster, andliaise with emergency responders to get help to where it’smost urgently-needed. In some cases, communicationnetworks will have been partly or entirely destroyed by thedisaster, while in others, the increased traffic during theaftermath will have overloaded the network, rendering reliablecommunications impossible.

Satellite has an integral part to play in disaster response.Imagery of the affected areas can provide answers, as wellas giving an overall picture of the extent of the damage. Inaddition, unlike terrestrial networks, satellite is not affected

by the vast majority of disasters, making it possible to quicklyand efficiently establish emergency communications. In theaftermath of a disaster, satellite capabilities are literally thedifference between life and death for many.

As such, a number of organisations, charters andcampaigns have popped up around the world to ensure thatsatellite imagery and communications for disaster events arerapidly and efficiently deployed to where they’re needed.

The Crisis Communications CharterOctober 2015 saw the signing of the Crisis CommunicationsCharter by the world’s leading satellite operators, Eutelsat,Hispasat, Inmarsat, Intelsat, SES, Thuraya and Yahsat, underthe umbrella of the EMEA Satellite Operators Association

Satellite: Providing global solutionsin the face of disasterWhen disaster strikes, worlds change in an instant. While there can be a large variation in globalimpact depending on the magnitude and location of a disaster, every individual affected has theirlife irreversibly changed in an instant. Following natural or man-made disasters alike, countlesspeople lose their homes, livelihoods, loved ones, or even their lives. It is empathy for thesepeople, as well as concerns about the harm done to economies and environment, that driveindividuals and organisations around the world to continue to develop disaster recovery solutionsto mitigate the resulting damage.

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(ESOA) and the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), with the globalhumanitarian community represented by the UN Office forCoordination of Humanitar ian Aid (OCHA) and theEmergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), at the WorldHumanitarian Summit Global Consultation.

The Charter embodies the commitment of the satellitecommunity to enhance connectivity during humanitarianemergencies and formalises terms and protocols designedto accelerate the ability of emergency response teams toaccess satellite-based communications when local networksare affected, destroyed or overloaded after a disaster. Theprinciples of the Charter also include increased coordinationto prioritise access to bandwidth for humanitarian purposesduring disaster operations, pre-positioned satellite equipmentand transmission capacity at times of disaster in 20 high-riskcountries in Europe, the Middle-East, Africa and Asia, asidentified by the ETC, as well as training and capacity buildingfor the humanitarian community across all five continents.

“The ESOA is honoured to have led this effort on behalfof member satellite operators who collectively deliver globalcoverage and connectivity,” said Aarti Holla, SecretaryGeneral of the ESOA. “We have to recognise that the numberof crises around the world is increasing both as a result ofclimate change and geo-politics. As a result, the unique abilityof satellite solutions to help save lives is becomingindispensable and the Charter will enable the ETC to triggerpre-positioned satellite solutions in any one of their 20 high-risk countries or beyond.”

“The humanitar ian community relies on satell itecommunications as they are the only technology that areimmune to natural disasters and that can be immediatelydeployed, regardless of constraints such as geography. Thisis a significant step for the humanitarian community and a

step change in the way we have worked with satelliteoperators in the past,” said the UN OCHA’s Stephen O’Brien,UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs andthe UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator.

The International Charter on Space and Major DisastersPlaying a different but equally crucial role to the CrisisCommunications Charter, the International Charter on Spaceand Major Disasters, which dates back to 2000, providescharitable and humanitarian satellite imagery to relieforganisations in the wake of major disasters. With the imagery,governments, charities and organisations around the worldcan collaborate on how to best respond to a disaster in termsof man-power and resources. The satellites are owned by amixture of private, national and international space agenciesincluding the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA),China National Space Administration (CNSA), DMCInternational Imaging and the European Organisation for theExploitation of Meteorological Satellites, among others.

The Charter can be activated in a number of ways:Authorised users can apply for access for a disaster in theirown country or on behalf of another country with which theycooperate for relief purposes, the UN can apply for any UNagencies, and the Asian Disaster Reduction Centre can applyon behalf of 31 Asia-Pacific countries. Discussions for furtheraccess for African countries that are currently without directaccess to the Charter are ongoing. Once the call to activatehas been received and approved, an Emergency On-CallOfficer analyses the request and prepares an archive andacquisition plan with available satellite resources.

Activations have varied widely since the first instance in2001, when imagery was used in the aftermath of floods innorth-east France. To date, the International Charter on Spaceand Major Disasters has been used for earthquakes, forestfires, tsunamis and volcanoes, among others. Noteworthyactivations include the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370and the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014. Theincredible value of the International Charter on Space andMajor Disasters is demonstrated by its lengthy track record;in April 2016 alone, the Charter was activated for CycloneFantala in Seychelles, forest fires in Panama, earthquakesin Ecuador and Japan, and floods in Iran and Argentina.

The Disaster Monitoring Constellation for InternationalImaging (DMCii) DMC International Imaging is one of the world’s top satellitecompanies operating in the area of disaster response. Awholly-owned subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd(SSLT), DMC operates the Disaster Monitoring Constellationfor International Imaging (DMCii), a unique Earth observationsatellite constellation that provides multispectral imagery forhumanitarian use in the event of major international disasters,in addition to commercial earth imaging services with its sparecapacity.

The satellites were constructed by SSTL and are operatedby DMC; some are owned by DMC, while others are ownedby governments around the world like Algeria, Turkey andChina. The constellation is now onto its second generationof satellites, which provide a 650km swath width with a pixeldensity of 22m GSD. The satellites are routinely cross-calibrated within one percent of Landsat to ensure seamless,accurate coverage. DMCii has very high resolution (VHR)capabilities with 2.5m GSD panchromatic and 5m GSD.

As a member of the International Charter on Space andPho

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Major Disasters, DMCii has provided imagery for the floodsin Iran, the earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan, and thetornadoes and floods in the USA so far in 2016. In 2015,when Nepal was hit with two earthquakes in two weeks,imagery was acquired through the International Charter onSpace and Major Disasters from a number of satellites,including the DMCii constellation. The data was used to createmaps of landslides active since the earthquakes to showwhere roads and rivers were blocked and where villages hadbeen damaged or destroyed. Additionally, scientists at OxfordUniversity used the imagery to improve the understanding ofhow the Himalayas gain height over time. Not only does suchanalysis help with disaster planning, it also assists in thedetection of areas that might be at risk of ruptures in thefuture.

Disaster Tech LabDisaster Tech Lab is a non-profit Irish organisation that usesWi-Fi to re-connect disconnected communities in disasterzones around the world. The group also provides otherdisaster response organisations with IP-basedcommunication services, and develops new technologies fordisaster response applications. Disaster Tech Lab uses a poolof skilled volunteers who can be deployed as required, anddepends on donors to carry out its work. Recent deploymentswhere Disaster Tech Lab provided connectivity include thefloods in Colorado, the refugee camps in Greece and Lesbos,and the earthquake in Nepal.

In March 2016, a Disaster Tech Lab team was deployedto Ecuador in the aftermath of the earthquake to assess theextent of the damage and to establish the most efficient wayof re-connecting telecommunications capabilities. During themission, the team used Globalstar’s satellite phones andSPOT handheld messengers to improve the efficiency of itsoperations and enhance the safety of its volunteers. Therugged handheld devices automatically report the user’slocation at regular intervals. The devices also include a ‘check-in’ button to send to Disaster Tech Lab’s headquarters with aprepared message, indicating that all is well, as well as anSOS feature in case of emergency.

“Globalstar satellite phones will make a big difference tous. We will be less reliant on VHF radios and will be able toovercome logistical challenges in getting the right equipmentto the right place, speeding up operations significantly,” saidEvert Bopp, Founder of Disaster Tech Lab. “At times, we canhave up to five separate teams operating in demandingcircumstances around the world. With the SPOT app on mysmartphone, I can easily see where every team is and bereassured that they are safe. Their friends and family canalso have that reassurance.”

In February 2015, Disaster Tech Lab received a requestfrom The Mentor Initiative for internet access andcommunications services for its ‘Masanga Mentor EbolaInitiative’ in Liberia. The programme aims to improve trainingfor infection prevention and control through innovativeeducational technology and distributed simulation, to improve

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knowledge retention, confidence and competence. Thetraining will be performed via tablet devices, which must beupdated with new information on a regular basis, in additionto being capable of video conferencing with the head officein the UK for ongoing evaluation and coordination. DisasterTech Lab sent a team to Liberia in March 2016 to build therequired local network and backhaul infrastructure. It alsoprovided training to local people to enable them to maintainand support the network once it was up and running.

The SSPI’s Better Satellite World CampaignThe Society of Satellite Professionals (SSPI), a 30-year-oldassociation of around 4,000 satellite industry professionals,is focused on improving the success of the satellite industryon a global scale. According to the SSPI, there is too littleawareness of the benefits of satellite around the world, whichhas tangible results on the industry, including regulatoryassault on spectrum, lack of government funding for satellitesolutions to the digital divide, and customers in new marketswho will never consider satellite.

Through the Better Satellite World Campaign, acollaboration with the ESOA, the Satellite Industry Association(SIA), the CASBAA, the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) and theWorld Teleport Association (WTA), the SSPI aims to expandawareness of the benefits of satellite throughout thepopulation. As part of the campaign to raise awareness,November 2015 saw the SSPI’s first ever Better SatelliteWorld Awards announced for the categories of economy,knowledge, humanity and communications. Among therecipients were SES’ emergency.lu, Inmarsat, Peter B. deSelding and Afghanistan Village Networks.

SES’ emergency.lu system is a global VSAT-based, multi-layer communications platform that immediately fills the gapat the onset of large-scale disasters. In addition to a globalVSAT network, it provides pre-positioned equipment, always-available satellite capacity, rapid deployment from air rescue

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jets and a suite of applications to provide humanitarianresponders with connectivity, as well as communication andcoordination facilities. It has been integrated into the UN andEU operational disaster management procedures and hasbeen offered as ‘a global public good’ for the past three years.Most recently, the service performed life-saving tasksfollowing the April 2015 earthquakes in Nepal. It is alsocredited with supporting reconstruction efforts followingCyclone Pam in Vanuatu, as well as communication andcoordination efforts following the Typhoon Haiyan in thePhilippines.

“We are delighted to have been recognised by SSPI forsuch a prestigious honour,” said Alan Kuresevic, VicePresident Engineering at SES Techcom Services. “Byassisting relief efforts for some of the most catastrophicnatural and human made disasters of recent times, thecontributions made by emergency.lu and SES have been -quite literally - life saving. It gives us great pride to have beenrecognised by the SSPI and its Better Satellite World Awardcampaign.”

Ensuring increased capabilities in the futureMany of the organisations, charters and campaigns discussedherein are relatively new, indicating that, with the increasingprevalence of natural and man-made disasters occurringworldwide, the willingness to help is growing. While this canonly be a good thing, the existence of so many fragmentedorganisations require a great deal of collaboration and side-by-side working, which can be challenging to coordinateunder the best of circumstances, never mind during disasterevents.

It is vital to ensure that effective inter-organisationcommunications mean that the increased help available doesin fact translate into increased assistance, rather thancapabilities being lost through inter-agency disagreementsand coordination complexities.

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