The contribution of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters in satellite-based flood response

Kurzfassung

The International Charter Space and Major Disasters is an association of space agencies and satellite operators with the aim of providing a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery of satellite data to users in case of major natural disasters and technical accidents. This crisis mechanism was established in the year 2000 and was activated more than 1000 times within the last 24 years mainly within the context of floods, storms, earthquakes, fires, oil spills, landslides, explosive Events, and volcanic eruptions. It currently consists of 17 members providing a virtual satellite constellation of at about 250 satellites. The International Charter is a key provider of Earth-observation satellite data and works with experts to derive information products to support disaster relief organizations in saving lives, property, infrastructure, and the environment in the frame of crisis situations. The bodies authorized to directly request the Charter to be activated are Authorized Users and Cooperating Bodies (United Nations and Sentinel Asia). This contribution has a focus on giving an overview about the International Charter within the context of Earth Observation-based ad-hoc crisis response in the frame of flooding, which is the most frequent disaster handled by this crisis mechanism.