International Charter
Space and Major Disasters
The International Charter
for Space and Major Disasters
André HUSSON
CNES : DSP / OT
CNES representative to the Board of
International Charter for Space and Major Disasters
Summary
• Background and purpose
• Organisation and actors
• Type of activations and examples
• Lessons learnt and future
Context of the Charter
The Charter was initiated by CNES/ESA at the
occasion of the UNISPACE III Conference in
Vienna (July 1999) on the following basis :
• Potential key contribution of space systems in
case of major disasters
• Necessity of a strong international cooperation
among space agencies and space system
operators to match the needs
Purpose of the Charter
The Charter is an international cooperation between space
agencies, making their resources available to emergency and
rescue operations.
Its objectives are :
• To support, by means of space assets and the associated
information and services, the organization of emergency
assistance or subsequent operations
• To provide a unified and co-ordinated system of space data
acquisition and data delivery to those affected by disasters
• To promote cooperation between space agencies and space
system operators in the field of disaster management
Principles of the co-operation
• The Charter is open to
– space agencies
– space system operators
• The members participate
– on a voluntary basis
– with no exchange of funds
• The members endeavour to
– make satellite resources (including acquisition planning)
available without delay during period of crisis, beyond the
specific data policy restrictions of providers
– supply emergency organizations, essentially the national
civil protection agencies, with a co-ordinated and free
access to space systems and to resulting data and
information (products).
Charter member agencies
CSA BNSC
Canada UK ESA
2000 2005 Europe JAXA
2000 CNSA Japan
CNES China 2005
NOAA/USGS France 2007
USA 2000
2001
ISRO
India
2001
CONAE
Argentina
2003
Scope of the Charter
The Charter is in
operation since
November 2000
The charter:
- addresses ‘only’
the response phase
- provides a unified
system of space
data acquisition and
delivery
- services the
entire world
Charter Operational Loop
Emergency on-
Call Officer CSA RADARSAT-1
(ECO)
ESA ERS-2 and ENVISA
CNES SPOT 2, 4 & 5
On-Duty Operator
NOAA-12, 14, 15,1
(ODO) NOAA 17, POES and GOE
Project ISRO IRS-1C,1D,P4,P6
Manager
(PM) CONAE SAC-C
Authorized
User (AU) JAXA (ALOS)
ALSAT-1,
BNSC/DMC Bilsat,
NigeriaSat-1,
CNSA UK-DMC
Disaster
End User (EU) Value-Added
Reseller (VAR)
The Authorized Users (AU))
• They are the only Bodies
authorised to request Emergency on-Call
services: to obtain data and Officer (ECO)
information on a disaster
occurrence, on a single call,
to request the mobilization
of the space resources of On Duty Operator
the member agencies (ODO)
• They usually represent:
Project Manager
- the national Civil AU (PM)
Protection Authorities (CPA)
of the partner agencies
-specialized UN
agencies (UNOCHA, UNEP,
UNDP…) granted with Co-
operating Body status
• If not member of the
Charter a bilateral
agreement with these CPAs
is needed
Role of the ODO and ECO
A 24/7 on-duty operator
receives the call, checks the Emergency on-Call
identity of the requestor Officer (ECO)
and verifies that the User
Request form sent by the
Authorized User is correctly
filled up. On Duty Operator
(ODO)
The operator passes the
information to an
Emergency On-Call Officer Project Manager
who analyzes the request (PM)
and the scope of the
disaster with the Authorized
User, and prepares an
archive and acquisition plan
using available space
resources.
Data acquisition and delivery
takes place on an
emergency basis.
Role of the Project Manager (PM)
• PM is designated by the
Executive Secretariat Emergency on-Call
Officer (ECO)
according to location,
type of disaster and
expertise
On Duty Operator
(ODO)
• PM is qualified in data
ordering, handling and
application
Project
Manager (PM)
• PM ensures the data sent
corresponds to what the
user expects
• PM assists the user
throughout the process.
• PM writes up a final
operation report
Charter Activations
(up to April 2007)
Lena River, Russia
Sweden
British Denmark
Columbia, Canada
British Germany 1,2&3 Czeck Republic 1&2
Columbia, Canada Luxembourg North Ossetia, Russia
Northern France Austria 1&2
Manitoba, Saône, & Rhône France Slovenia Caucassus, Russia
Canada English Channel 1&2 Lago Maggiore, IT
Switzerland France
Romania 1,2&3
Galicia, Spain Hungary
Bulgaria
Portugal Etna, IT Stromboli, IT North Korea
USA Tehran, Iran3
Bingol, Turkey
Morocco Algeria 1&2 Hindu Kush, Afghanistan 1&2
Al Hoceïma, Morocco Lebanon 1&2
Louisiana, USA Kashmir, Pakistan
Canary Islands, Spain Iran 1,2&4 Kashmir, India Nepal
Florida, USA Gonaives, Haiti China
Yucatan, Mexico Pakistan 1&2 Assam, India
Gujarat, India India
Dominican Republic
El Salvador 1&2 Hispaniola, Soufrière, Montserrat
Gulf of Aden, Yemen Philippines 2&5
Central America Haiti
Grenada Island
Sudan 1&2 Cuddalore, India Philippines 1&3
Guaranda Municipe, Colombia Suriname
Ethiopia 1 Philippines 4
Galeras Volcano, Colombia Georgetown, Guyana Ethiopia 2&3 Banda Aceh, Indonesia
Somalia
Venezuela Sri Lanka 1&2
Nias Island, Indonesia
Galapagos, Ecuador Kenya 1&2
Nyiragongo, Congo
Rarotonga, Cook Islands Nabire,
Java, Indonesia 3&4 Indonesia
Bolivia
Comoros Indonesia 5
Bolivia 2 Caprivi,Namibia
Earthquake Bolivia-Paraguay-Argentina Mozambique
Volcanic Eruption Argentina 4
Landslide Santa Fe, Argentina 1
Flood/ocean wave
Argentina 3
Storm/hurricane Patagonia, Argentina 2
Oil Spill
Forest Fire
Other
Charter Activations
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
)
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
ov
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
(N
07
20
Charter Activation Cases
(up to November 2007)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Sub-totals
Earthquake 3 1 3 5 3 2 4 21
Solid Earth Landslide 1 2 2 1 2 10 41
Volcanic eruption 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 10
Storm/hurricane 1 2 3 3 1 6 16
Ice/snow hazard 1 1
Flood/ocean wave 4 8 4 9 16 16 22 79
Weather /
Forest fire 5 1 2 4 12 108
Atmospheric
Drought
Fog/haze
Epidemic
Oil spill 3 2 4 2 11
Technological Hazardous 1 1 12
material
epidemic
Total / year 1 11 15 18 21 25 25 43
Rapid mapping
Event space map
Burnt areas evolution between the
01/07/2007 and the 07/09/2007
Damage assessment map
Damage assessment map
Charter evolution
Recent events around the Charter
Increasing recognition of the Emerging other space-based
usefulness of space products initiatives on disaster management
accelerated the need for the Charter Governing Board:
- to review the implications of the changing context on the Charter
- to take position about the international Charter evolution
- to explore options to pursue
The Board at its last meeting in April, 2007 gave an action to CNES,
JAXA and CSA to study this issue.
Charter evolution
Not to modify the Charter’s mandate, but to rather:
– identify the expectations the other initiatives have
on the Charter
– explore options to strengthen Charter’s effectiveness
and relevance
– suggest possible measures for Charter’s evolution
with the aim of improving sustainability,
effectiveness, and relevance of the Charter
Conclusion
A successful case of international cooperation…
– It provides a «one-stop shop» for civil protection and emergency
organizations
– It is an efficient data delivery mechanism, relying on existing
resources
– Deals only with emergency
Need to make the Charter accessible to more countries, in particular
in Africa
Intend to work together to investigate options to make more efficient
the space based solutions to support disasters management
activities