USA, 12 April 2007: DigitalGlobe and GeoEye, world’s highest resolution commercial satellite imagery providing firms, have joined forces with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in support of the global team of space and satellite agencies that constitute the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters”. The International Charter works to provide emergency response satellite data free of charge to those affected by disasters anywhere in the world.
According to Barbara J. Ryan, USGS’ Associate Director for Geography and current Chair of the International Charter, “The Charter has been activated about 125 times since its inception in November 2000, including here in the United States for Hurricane Katrina in 2005.”
DigitalGlobe and GeoEye’s participation in the Charter will advance its goal of getting imagery for disaster response into the hands of the people who need it. The International Charter currently includes as its members the British National Space Center/Disaster Monitoring Constellation (BNSC/DMC), the French Space Agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the Argentine Space Agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the USGS. Each member agency has committed resources to support the provisions of the Charter and, in so doing, is helping to mitigate the effects of disasters worldwide. These resources include imagery collected by a variety of civilian and commercial satellites.
Bill Wilt, GeoEye’s Vice President for North American Sales said, “Archived, as well as newly collected imagery, can go a long way in helping people better understand the impact of a disaster on the ground. The International Charter has a great track record in this regard.”
This alliance of U.S. commercial satellite imagery providers and the member agencies of the International Charter represents a unique collaboration between governments and industry in the area of space imaging. The USGS will act as the interface between GeoEye and DigitalGlobe and International Charter operations. “This is a wonderful example of a public-private partnership,” said Ryan, “that benefits thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people worldwide.” For more information visit www.digitalglobe.com and www.geoeye.com
