UN Rallies Satellites Over Haiti for Assistance

(Jan. 16) -- In the chaos after Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti, there's one aid program that isn't floundering: a swift campaign to amass priceless satellite pictures of the disaster zone.

Nations and private companies around the world have swiveled their cameras in space to focus on the devastation from the magnitude 7.0 quake. The pictures snapped from orbit are being used to guide relief efforts. Such images can reveal, for instance, surviving roads capable of carrying food and medical aid. Images also help scientists gain a better understanding of the fault that caused the temblor.

Shortly after the quake, officials from the United Nations and other disaster-response agencies called the closely guarded phone number devoted to requests for satellite images of disasters. Only 50 or so people in the world are authorized to call this satellite hot line, says Brenda Jones, disaster response coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey.

The hot line received four pleas for snapshots of Haiti from space. That's a relatively high number, provoking an outpouring of help, Jones says. Satellites operated by the space agencies of Europe, Japan, France and Canada have all trained their gaze on the quake-stricken region.

So have satellites run by U.S. companies, such as three sharp-eyed satellites operated by U.S.-based DigitalGlobe. That means customers' requests are going unfilled temporarily.

"We are forgoing orders," says CEO Jill Smith, but it was a "straightforward decision" to do so. "We have a very real appreciation that our imaging saves lives."

Smith says DigitalGlobe began scrutinizing Haiti within hours of the quake. The network that operates the hot line also moved quickly.

"From the time that magic number is called ... within two to three hours, they'll have begun tasking the satellites," Jones says. The first map drafted in response to the hot line requests came out the day after the quake.

The hot line allows aid groups to draw on images from 30 or more satellites. At least eight sets of eyes in the sky are documenting the damage in Haiti. Some are taking high-resolution photos of the ruins. Others are using radar, which can peer through clouds.

Hot line operators are on call at an office in Italy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to field demands for orbital studies of oil spills, fires and other catastrophes. The nations that devote their satellites to filling such orders do so under a voluntary pact known as the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, which specifically bars any funding for the effort.

The system is "is purely altruistic," says Jones. Countries "don't get anything out of it except to be able to help."