The International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" is a non-binding

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

which provides for the

charitable The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' or ...

and

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

acquisition and transmission of

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

data to relief organizations in the event of major disasters. Initiated by the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

and the French space agency

CNES The (CNES; French: ''Centre national d'études spatiales'') is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public administration with industrial and commercial purpose"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is und ...

after the UNISPACE III conference held in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, in July 1999, it officially came into operation on November 1, 2000, after the

Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; french: Agence spatiale canadienne, ASC) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The president is Lisa Campbell, who took the position on September 3, 2020 ...

signed onto the charter on October 20, 2000. Their space assets were then, respectively, ERS and

ENVISAT Envisat ("Environmental Satellite") is a large inactive Earth-observing satellite which is still in orbit and now considered space debris. Operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), it was the world's largest civilian Earth observation satell ...

SPOT Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot (prod ...

and Formosat, and RADARSAT. The assorted satellite assets of various corporate, national, and international

space agencies This is a list of government agencies engaged in activities related to outer space and space exploration. As of 2022, 77 different government space agencies are in existence, 16 of which have launch capabilities. Six government space agencie ...

and entities provide for humanitarian coverage which is wide albeit contingent. First activated for landslide in Slovenia in November 2000, the Charter has since brought space assets into play for numerous floods, earthquakes, oil spills, forest fires, tsunamis, major snowfalls, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and landslides, and furthermore (and unusually) for the search for

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned destination ...

and for the

2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in Western Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and S ...

. As of 2015, fifteen space agencies are signatories; dozens of satellites are available with

image resolution Image resolution is the detail an image holds. The term applies to digital images, film images, and other types of images. "Higher resolution" means more image detail. Image resolution can be measured in various ways. Resolution quantifies how ...

s ranging from per pixel to about per pixel. As of August 2018, it had had 579 activations, from 125 countries, and had 17 members, which contributed 34 satellites. It won the prestigious Pecora award in 2017.

Successive signatories and satellite assets

* United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

) — ( POES), (

GOES Goes () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents. History Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek: de Korte ...

) and Indian Space Research Organization (

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

) (September 2001) — (the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series) * Argentine Space Agency ( CONAE) (July 2003) — ( SAC-C) * February 2005 – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

)International Charter on Space and Major Disasters
// International Symposium on Remote Sensing Applications to Natural Hazards, Washington, D.C. 12 September 2007, Barbara J. Ryan (Associate Director for Geography, U. S. Geological Survey) — (

ALOS Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), also called Daichi (a Japanese word meaning "land"), is a 3810 kg Japanese satellite launched in 2006. After five years of service, the satellite lost power and ceased communication with Earth, but ...

) * ? 2005 – United States Geological Survey (

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

) as part of the U.S. team — (

Landsat The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint NASA / USGS program. On 23 July 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched. This was eventually renamed to Lan ...

Quickbird QuickBird was a high-resolution commercial Earth observation satellite, owned by DigitalGlobe, launched in 2001 and reentered after orbit decay in 2015. QuickBird used Ball Aerospace's Global Imaging System 2000 (BGIS 2000). The satellite colle ...

, GeoEye 1) * November 2005 – The British space agency

BNSC The British National Space Centre (BNSC) was an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, organised in 1985, that coordinated civil space activities for the United Kingdom. It was replaced on 1 April 2010 by the United Kingdom Space Age ...

( UK-DMC) with the company DMCii * May 2007 – China National Space Administration (

CNSA China National Space Administration (CNSA; ) is the government agency of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation, including organizing or leading foreign exchanges ...

) — (the FY, SJ, ZY satellite series) * ? –

DMC International Imaging DMC International Imaging (DMCii) is the company that manages the Disaster Monitoring Constellation for the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters. It also sells satellite imaging services under contract and manages the operations of s ...

* ? – The Algerian space agency Centre National des Techniques Spatiales — ( ALSAT-1) * ? – The Nigerian

National Space Research and Development Agency The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) is the national space agency of Nigeria. It is a parastatal under Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. The agency is based in the Nigerian capital city of Abuja in the Lugbe distr ...

— (NigeriaSat) * ? – The Turkish space agency

TUBITAK The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of Turkey whose stated goal is to develop "science, technology and innovation" (STI) policies ...

— (

BILSAT-1 BILSAT-1 (formerly just ''BILSAT'') was an earth observation satellite designed and developed by TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBİTAK UZAY) and produced in Turkey as part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) projec ...

) * ? – The British company BNSC/Surrey Satellite Technology Limited — ( UK-DMC) * ? – The British company BNSC/Qinetiq — ( Top Sat) * 2012 German Aerospace Center ( DLR) - ( TerraSAR-X,

TanDEM-X TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement) is the name of TerraSAR-X's twin satellite, a German Earth observation satellite using SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) - a modern radar imaging technology. Implemented in a Public-Pr ...

) * 2012 Korea Aerospace Research Institute (

KARI Kari or KARI may refer to: Places *Kari, Jhunjhunu, a village in Rajasthan, India * , a village in Mouhoun Province, Burkina Faso *Kari, Tikamgarh, a town in Madhya Pradesh, India * Kari, Iran, a village in Bushehr Province, Iran * Kari-ye Bozorg ( ...

) - (Arirang 3, 3A, 5) * 2012 Instituto Nacional de PesquisasEspaciais, Brazil ( INPE) * 2012 European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (

EUMETSAT The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) is an intergovernmental organisation created through an international convention agreed by a current total of 30 European Member States. EUMETSAT's primary ...

) * 2013

Russian Space Agency The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

(

Resurs-DK No.1 Resurs-DK No.1, also called Resurs-DK1, was a commercial Earth observation satellite capable of transmitting high-resolution imagery (up to 0.9 m) to the ground stations as it passed overhead. The spacecraft was operated by NTs OMZ, the Russian ...

, Resurs-P No.1, Kanopus-V, Meteor-M1) * 2016

Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities The Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (''Agencia Bolivariana para Actividades Espaciales'', ABAE) is an agency of the Ministry of Science of Venezuela, responsible for developing and carrying out policies of the National Executive Venezuela ...

(ABAE) - (

VRSS-1 VRSS-1 (Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite-1), also known as (Satellite) Francisco Miranda, is the first Venezuelan remote sensing satellite, and the second Venezuelan satellite after VENESAT-1. It will be used to study the territory of Venezue ...

) the live satellites and their instrumentalities were: The high resolution and very high resolution radar sensors of

(decommissioned in April),

RISAT-1 Radar Imaging Satellite 1 or RISAT-1, was an Indian remote sensing satellite built by the Indian Space Research Organisation and operated by National Technical Research Organisation . The second RISAT satellite to be launched, it used a C-b ...

, RADARSAT-1 & 2, TerraSAR-X and

; the high resolution and very high resolution optical sensors of SPOT satellites4 & 5,

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of ...

5 & 7,

PROBA PROBA is minisatellite technology demonstration mission in ESA's General Study Program with the objective to address issues of on-board operational autonomy of a generic platform. PROBA (Project for On-Board Autonomy), renamed PROBA-1, is a Belgia ...

1, UK-DMC 2, KOMPSAT-2,

IRS-P5 Cartosat-1 (formerly IRS-P5) is a stereoscopic Earth observation satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit, and the first one of the Cartosat series of satellites. The eleventh satellite of ISRO in Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) series. The sa ...

Resourcesat-2 Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 and the eighteenth Indian remote sensing satellite built by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The new satellite provides the same services as the original Resourcesat-1, but was a ...

Oceansat-2 Oceansat-2 is the second Indian satellite built primarily for ocean applications. It was a part of the Indian Remote Sensing Programme satellite series. Oceansat-2 is an Indian satellite designed to provide service continuity for operational us ...

Cartosat-2 Cartosat-2 is an Earth observation satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit and the second of the Cartosat series of satellites. The satellite was built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Weighing around 68 ...

IMS-1 IMS-1 is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite which is the fourteenth satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite, Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series has been built, launched and maintained by the ...

, and

RapidEye RapidEye AG was a German geospatial information provider focused on assisting in management decision-making through services based on their own Earth-observation imagery. The company operated a five-satellite constellation producing 5-meter res ...

; the medium and low resolution optical sensors of POES,

, and SAC-C. Furthermore, specific agreements with other entities, including corporations, allow the Charter access to additional products of high and very high resolution from satellites such as the Formosat series, GeoEye, IKONOS,

QuickBird QuickBird was a high-resolution commercial Earth observation satellite, owned by DigitalGlobe, launched in 2001 and reentered after orbit decay in 2015. QuickBird used Ball Aerospace's Global Imaging System 2000 (BGIS 2000). The satellite colle ...

, and

WorldView A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural p ...

. In 2014, the charter was activated 41 times for disasters in 30 countries. In that year the live satellites and their instrumentalities included: The high and very high resolution

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

sensors of Risat-1, RADARSAT-2, TerraSAR-X, and

and

Sentinel-1A Sentinel-1A is a European radar imaging satellite launched in 2014. It is the first Sentinel-1 satellite launched as part of the European Union's Copernicus programme. The satellite carries a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar which will provide ...

; the optical high and very high resolution sensors of UK-DMC 2,

7 and 8,

series 5, 6, and 7, Pléiades 1A and 1B,

1, SJ-9A, GF-1, KOMPSAT-2, IRS-P5 (

Cartosat The Cartosat is a series of Indian optical earth observation satellites built and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Cartosat series is a part of the Indian Remote Sensing Program. They are used for Earth's resourc ...

-1), Cartosat-2,

, Kanopus-V, and Resurs-P, and the

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

camera mounted the Kibo module of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

; and the medium and low optical sensors of POES,

, FY-3C, the

Metop Metop (Meteorological Operational satellite) is a series of three polar-orbiting meteorological satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites ...

series, the first two

Meteosat The Meteosat series of satellites are geostationary meteorological satellites operated by EUMETSAT under the Meteosat Transition Programme (MTP) and the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) program. The MTP program was established to ensure the ope ...

generations, and Meteor-M. Specific agreements with other entities allow for the usage of the Formosat, GeoEye, IKONOS,

, and

WorldViews A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural p ...

satellites, which have high and very high resolution. Archival data from defunct satellites such as

, ERS, CBERS,

IRS-1C IRS-1C was the fifth remote sensing Indian satellite built, and designed by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). IRS-1C is first second-generation operational Remote Sensing Satellite. The satellite carries payloads with enhanced capabili ...

Astra 1D Astra 1D is a geostationary communications satellite launched in 1994 by the Société Européenne des Satellites (SES). , the craft remains in service for occasional use. Astra 1D was the fourth, and under original plans, last Astra communica ...

, IRS P4, P6,

, RADARSAT-1, SAC-C, SPOT 1-3 & 4, UK-DMC,

-5 and NigeriaSat are also available.

Major events resulting in activation

This is very much a partial list; the 500th activation of the Charter was on 1 August 2016. * 2004: The Charter was activated for the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

by the Indian Space Research Organisation (

). * 14 January 2010: The French Civil Protection authorities,

Public Safety Canada Public Safety Canada (PSC; french: Sécurité publique Canada, SPC; PSP), legally incorporated as the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (PSEPC), is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for (most) matters of ...

, the American Earthquake Hazards Programme of

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

and the

UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti ) , leader_title = Head , leader_name = Sandra Honoré (Special Representative of the Secretary-General) , status = Replaced by MINUJUSTH , formation = 1 June 2004 , websiteUN Peacekeeping: MINUSTAH

requested a post-event map of Haiti, two days after the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

, via the Space and Major Disasters Charter. * 22 February 2011: Both COGIC (French Civil Protection) and

requested the activation of the Charter on the behalf of MCDEM New Zealand, thus readily providing satellite imagery for aid and rescue services following the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

. * 12 March 2011: Japan, through its space agency

, requested the activation of the Charter to help in managing the aftermath of

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

. * 8 November 2013: The Charter was activated by Philippine authorities as super-typhoon Haiyan made landfall. * 11 March 2014: The Charter was activated by Chinese authorities to aid in the search for

which disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport. * 9 October 2014: The Charter was activated by the

on behalf of

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

to monitor the

(in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, specifically), the first time its space assets have been used in an epidemiological role. * 4 May 2016:

activated the Charter for the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire, Fort McMurray Wildfire. * 13 August 2016: The Charter was activated by the U.S. Geological Survey in response to the

2016 Louisiana floods In August 2016, prolonged rainfall from an unpredictable storm resulted in catastrophic flooding in the state of Louisiana, United States; thousands of houses and businesses were submerged. Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards, called the disas ...

. * 24 August 2017: The Charter was activated by the U.S. Geological Survey for

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...

. *5 September 2017: The Charter was activated by the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

for

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

; Haiti and the United States followed suit shortly thereafter. *19 September 2017: The Charter was activated in the aftermath of

2017 Central Mexico earthquake The 2017 Puebla earthquake struck at 13:14 CDT (18:14 UTC) on 19 September 2017 with an estimated magnitude of and strong shaking for about 20 seconds. Its epicenter was about south of the city of Puebla, Mexico. The earthquake caused d ...

. *20 September 2017. The Charter was activated by the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias CNE in the

for

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

. *22 November 2017. The Charter was activated by the

Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE; in English, National Space Activities Commission) is the civilian agency of the government of Argentina in charge of the national space programme. History Sociedad Argentina Interplanetar ...

due to the disappearance of ARA ''San Juan''. *August 2020. The Charter was activated by the Centre Opérationnel de Gestion Interministérielle des Crises (COGIC) for the

2020 Beirut explosions On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in the capital city of Lebanon exploded, causing at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, and US$15 billion in property damage, as well as leaving an estimated 30 ...

References

External links

Official siteText of the charterInternational Charter infographic by ESA
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Charter On Space And Major Disasters Space treaties Treaties concluded in 1999 Treaties entered into force in 2000 Disaster management Space photography and videography Earth observation projects

Successive signatories and satellite assets

Major events resulting in activation

See also

References

External links