ESA - Observing the Earth - Global space cooperation for disaster relief

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Global space cooperation for disaster relief

10 January 2005

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This Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) multitemporal composite image highlights coastal destruction - including damaged coral reefs - on North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. Radar images measure surface roughness rather than reflected light. The colour in the image comes from combining two separate ASAR images acquired on different dates in order to highlight differences between them. The yellow (combining red and green) is matched to a 3 June 2004 acquisition while the blue is matched to a post-tsunami acquisition on 30 December 2004. North Sentinel Island is home to a small indigenous tribe that refuses contact with the outside world. They are reported to have survived the severe damage done to the island.

Credits: ESA

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This post-disaster satellite map of the southern part of Sri Lanka was produced by rapid mapping organisation SERTIT on 4 January 2005 based on Envisat ASAR data made available following the activation of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, as requested by the French Civil Protection Agency.

Credits: SERTIT

Towards a Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS)

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This 3 January 2005 Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) image of Banda Aceh is shown along with high-resolution pre- and post-disaster optical Quickbird imagery. Located on the northern part of Sumatra, Banda Aceh is the capital of the devastated Indonesian territory of Aceh.

Credits: ESA

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)

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MERIS image showing northeast coast of Sri Lanka

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This image acquired on 28 December 2004 by the MERIS (Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) on board ESA's Envisat Earth observation satellite shows the northeast coast of Sri Lanka and the southern coasts of India. Sediment (light brown & green colour) left after the tsunami can be seen along the coast.

Credits: ESA