Space Assets for Disaster Response

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Space Assets for Disaster Response
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Agenda

• Orbital Mechanics Primer
• Existing Assets
• NSBE Opportunities to Contribute

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Orbital Mechanics Primer

• Where are space assets?
• Space is huge
• Orbiting earth means asset
• Is somewhere inside a sphere with a radius of
  nearly 23,000 miles
• Is moving along a typically fixed, elliptical
  path causing it to pass over specific points
  along the earth at known intervals
• Field of View
• Main types of relevant Earth orbits
• Low Earth Orbit
• Molniya Orbit
• Geostationary Orbit

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Field of View

• Amount of Earth an instrument or antenna aboard a
  spacecraft can see at a particular point in time
• Circular cone projected from spacecraft to Earth

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GeostationaryOrbit

• Satellite located along the equator at altitude
  of 22,300 miles above the surface
• Revolves around the Earth once per day thus
  appears to remain in a fixed position over the
  ground
• Eliminates need for ground equipment to track
  satellite can point antenna permanently at
  satellites location
• Substantially simplifies space communications
  systems
• Much more expensive to reach than other orbits
• Require greater power to transmit across distance

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Low Earth Orbit

• Satellite in orbit with altitude between the
  atmosphere and the Van Allen Radiation Belt (124
  726 miles)
• Most human spaceflight is in LEO
• LEO used for some communications applications,
  but for many remote sensing satellites
• Requires active tracking by ground stations

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Molniya Orbit

• Initially developed by Soviet Union
• Highly elliptic orbit with apogee in northern
  hemisphere and perigee in southern hemisphere
• Orbital period of 12 hours
• Satellite spends most of its time over a
  designated area of Earth apogee dwell
• Requires active tracking by ground stations

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Existing Assets

• Satellite Communications
• Remote Sensing

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Satellite Communications
Image courtesy Intelsat
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Satellite Communications

• "Satellite communications played a critical role
  during the response to man-made and natural
  disasters,"
• Satellite Industry Association (SIA) Chairman
  Tony Trujillo
• Satellite Phone Networks
• Described as essential tools by First US Army
  Chief of Staff during Katrina

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Hurricane Katrina/Rita Example

• Globalstar and Iridium fielded over 20,000
  satellite phones
• Other satellite communications companies provided
  additional service
• First goal was to meet needs of emergency
  responders, then to help restore regional
  communications in advance of recovery of
  ground-based networks

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Hurricane Katrina/Rita Example

• Better preparations needed
• Need single umbrella organization in US
  Department of Homeland Security for satellite
  resources
• Need networks in place before the disasters
• Need better integration into emergency
  communications network
• Need paradigm shift from reactionary to
  prepositioned and prepared

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New Zealand Red Cross Talking Briefcase

• Iridium satellite phone
• Solar panel spare battery
• Watertight case
• Rugged can drive a truck over case intended to
  survive a tsunami

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New Zealand Red CrossTalking Briefcase

• Designed to survive disasters so can be used
  immediately after allowing reports days before
  aircraft can land
• Multiple power options water tight power
  socket, crocodile clips (connect to car battery),
  solar panels, and battery
• Developed for New Zealand Red Cross in
  preparation for Cyclone season

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American Red Cross Lynx

• 9 Modified Ford Excursion SUVs
• Phone and radio, digital satellite TV, and live
  video transmission
• Allows Red Cross to eliminate reliance on local
  infrastructure
• Increases speed at which Red Cross can provide
  service to disaster clients
• Beneficial cost savings to Red Cross

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Telehealth Training Exercise

• Greenville, North Carolina, 2002
• Demonstrate and test telemedicine networks and
  rapidly deployable satellite, local wireless, and
  mobile monitoring technologies
• Used an array of satellite systems
• Iridium and Globalstar satellite phones
• Inmarsat Global Area Network systems
• Starband (Telstar-7 satellite)
• Global Communications Solutions 212

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Telehealth Training Exercise

• Demonstrated potential for tremendous benefit,
  but not part of disaster plans (at that time)
• Despite systems being activated for the exercise,
  participants did not use them
• Hospitals experienced problems communicating
  (traditional switchboards overloaded) but did not
  use satellite based videoconferencing links

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Telehealth Training Exercise

• Revealed need to better incorporate networks into
  disaster plans, advertise their availability, and
  use them in disaster drills

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Remote Sensing

• Long used to forecast intensive weather hazards,
  now providing new capabilities
• Committee of Earth Observing Satellites formed
  Disaster Management Support Group (DMSG) in 1997
  for disaster support
• Goal to improve coordination among providers and
  users of civil Earth observing satellite data
• Focus was earthquake, fire, flood, ice,
  landslide, oil spill, and volcanic hazards

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DMSG Findings

• Disaster managers often recognize the value of,
  and are willing to use, new satellite technology,
  but may be reluctant to do so, since the
  technology is unfamiliar and unproven in an
  operational environment
• Suggested ways for the space community to respond
• Mutual dialogue, more user-friendly tools, and
  demonstrations
• Defining emergency scenarios to assist the
  International Charter

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2000 Panel

• Hosted by DMSG, convened four commercial remote
  sensing operators
• Identified barriers to improving use of satellite
  data for disaster management support
• Poor requirements identification
• Lack of funding and contracts
• Insufficient training
• Need to derive information from multiple sources
  and integrate into a usable format

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2001 Workshop

• DMSG developed handbook of emergency scenarios
• Describes what to do when a particular type of
  disaster occurs
• Unlike International Charter (only activates once
  a disaster occurs), focus is on all phases of
  disaster mitigation, preparedness/warning, and
  relief/response/recovery

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International Charter Space and Major Disasters

• Established in 2000
• Provides authorized users access to wide variety
  of space-based information
• Includes agencies from European Union, United
  States, France, Canada, Argentina, India, and
  Japan
• Been activated 100 times 38-48 hour response
  time
• Satellite fleet includes
• LANDSAT 5/7, SPOT 4/5, RADARSAT-1, ENVISAT,
  RESOURCESAT-1, SAC-C, NigeriaSat-1, ALSAT-1,
  BILSAT and UK-DMC (once launched, Beijing-1)

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How the Charter Works

• Disaster Occurs
• Authorized User (AU) (bodies authorized to
  request services of the charter) contacts On-Duty
  Operator (ODO)
• ODO verifies caller as an AU and transmits
  information to Emergency On Call Officer (ECO)

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How the Charter Works

• ECO processes information and tasks appropriate
  space agencies
• Space Agencies (charter members) plan
  acquisitions and program satellites to acquire
  requested data
• Value Added Reseller (VA) further processes and
  interprets data and delivers to the end user

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Disaster Monitoring Constellation

• New member of the International Charter
• International collaboration of space
  organizations
• Centre National des Techniques Spatiales (CNTS),
  Algeria
• National Remote Sensing Centre, Ministry of
  Science and Technology (MoST), China
• National Space Research and Development Agency
  (NASRDA), Nigeria
• TUBITAK BILTEN, Turkey
• Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, United Kingdom
• Provides rapid response disaster imagery from
  space
• Supplied coverage during Katrina, Indian Ocean
  Tsunami, and provided data to UN for the
  Internally Displaced People camp in Safur, Sudan
• Providing a 24-hour emergency satellite planning
  service to the International Charter satellite
  fleet (DMCII)

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DMCII

• DMC Imaging International
• Recently hosted training with US Geological
  Survey for Emergency On Call (ECO) Services with
  International Charter
• Attendees included
• European Space Agency (ESA)
• Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)
• Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
• Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales
  (CONAE)
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

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DMC Katrina Response
400 km x 220 km

• Activated by request from International Charter
• First image acquired by NigeriaSat-1 on Sept. 2
• Delivered to US Geological Survey
• Provided wide area coverage to identify areas for
  more detailed mapping

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NigeriaSat-1 Katrina Imagery

• Vegetation shown as red
• Brown indicates where vegetation has been blown
  away
• Flooded areas visible as dark areas, with lighter
  lines indicating roofs
• Column of smoke from burning buildings in the
  wharf area visible
• Stadium visible through the smoke

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NSBE Opportunities to Contribute

• Support for organizing bodies
• Many warned of problems Katrina exposed, but were
  ignored or de-prioritized
• Education of municipal governments
• Many are unaware of useful space assets or need
  assistance understanding the technology
• Some lack the technical expertise to select from
  among potential options

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NSBE Opportunities to Contribute

• Bring technology to the community
• Promote talking briefcase type kits in at risk
  communities
• Design ruggedized solar power kits for
  pre-positioning in high risk areas
• Develop emergency scenarios for at risk
  communities to help local planners or relief
  agencies
• Conduct training sessions for emergency responders

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NSBE Opportunities to Contribute

• Technical venture low-thrust technology
  demonstrator satellite
• Pulsed plasma thruster or ion engine for spiral
  trajectory from low earth orbit to geostationary
  or molniya orbit
• Low thrust engine simplifies problem of reaching
  high orbits
• Construct as a microsatellite and fly as a
  secondary payload
• Precursor projects (build experience base)
• Simple microsatellite(s)
• Ion or pulsed plasma engine
• Transmitter/Receiver
• Solar power systems