Use of space technology

for
Natural & Manmade Disaster Management

By
Dr. S. Pal
Group Director,
ISRO Satellite Centre,
Bangalore.
 Space Technology - Disaster Management

• Recollect - the destruction of the beautiful

cities & some of the best monuments made by
mankind.
– Submersion of the cities of Dwaraka, Poompuhar &
Atlantis in sea
– The biggest disaster created by Mount Vesuvius volcano
to the beautiful city of Pempeii
– Earthquake in the port city of Alexandria (pharos of
Alexandria - 12th Century AD) & Colossus of Rhodes
( 225BC)
– Earthquakes of Bihar, Utrakhand, Latur, Iran, California

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management
– Flash floods of Morvi
– Floods in UP, Bihar, Assam, Bangladesh
– Cyclones of Orissa, AP, Bangladesh & Mauritius
– Nuclear Accident of Chernobyl
– Numerous wars
– Forest fire of Indonesia
– Cholera outbreak in Bangladesh
– An aircraft accident in the Sahara desert
– Oil spills in the sea

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management
• Recollect the events surrounding the sinking of the
TITANIC on April 14, 1912
• The World Met Organization predicted & warned that a big
cyclone is going to hit Mauritius. Mauritius being a
reasonably rich, small nation & had the best communication
system including cellular & satellite system. The UNO -
disaster management office in Geneva was in constant touch
with authorities in Mauritius & monitoring the status
regularly. Suddenly the communication stops & for five
days there was no information about the damage & losses,
to outside world. Sixth day an emergency relief plane from
Seychelles lands & world comes to know about it.

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management

• 1978 cyclone hits AP coast

• 1999 Cyclone hits Orissa & for four days
nothing was known to the rest of the world about
the damages, severity & status.
• Latur Earthquake & Morvi floods
– India comes to know from USA.
• Hundreds of lives were saved by an enterprising
man by telephoning down the stream Satluj in
July 2000 floods of Himachal Pradesh

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management

• Disaster can be classified under two categories:

– Natural :
• meteorological phenomena such as
cyclone, floods, draughts,
• geological nature such as landslide,
earthquakes, volcanoes & avalanches and
river coarse changes
• biological nature like locust, pests or
diseases in crops, fruits and forest.

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management
• Disaster can be classified under two categories (contd.):
– Manmade :
• War, nuclear explosions, pollution of sea, air rivers,
lakes etc.
• excess use of fertilizers
• building of dams on rivers thereby disturbing the
soil conditions,
• deforestation & unsuitable afforestation, plantation
• unplanned growth of cities & villages
• accidents in air, sea & of railways.

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management

• Disaster, as the word suggests is a sudden &

terrible misfortune whose scars can not be easily
removed, usually strikes without much of an
advance warning and as such the management of
it becomes a big task.

• Management of disaster :
– Pre-disaster planning
– Response & monitoring
– Post disaster management

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management

• Space technology has come a long way to help

mankind in managing almost all the areas of all
types of disasters.

– Geo-satellites help in monitoring the weather,

provide uninterrupted communication links,
acts as warning and data collection centre.
– The geo mobile component can even provide
communication even in Orissa type of
cyclone.
S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore
 Space Technology - Disaster Management

• The LEO spacecraft can provide met data,

through optical & microwave remote sensing,
can picture and monitor pollution, floods,
avalanches, landslides, river course etc.

• Spacecraft can even carry sensors to pickup ELF

waves, which are supposed to be emitted during
earthquakes & volcano activities.

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management

• Some efforts towards predictions:

– Volcano activity
• Fire ring maps, earth temperatures, seismic & Geological
studies help in predicting the volcano erruption
– Cyclones
• Sea temperature, wind profile, sea surface roughness &
height data etc. provide the early warnings ( Being done
by Topex / Poseidon Satellites)
– Earthquakes
• Geological studies & fault location, ELF emission
monitoring may help

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore

 Space Technology - Disaster Management

• Some effects towards predictions (contd..):

– Flash floods
• Topographical studies of the land & forests & monitoring
of rain falls
– Floods
• Monitoring the rain fall in the catchment area, snow fall in
upper hills, temperatures & topographical studies
– Locust, Cholera, Pests etc.
• Regular Remote sensing observations of the sea, desserts
& forest.

S.Pal , ISRO satelllite Centre, Bangalore