The Charter concept is this: a single phone number is made available to authorized parties providing 24/7 contact to a person who can activate the charter. Once activated, a project manager takes charge. The project manager knows what satellite resources are available, how to task them to collect data, and how to quickly analyze the collected data to create impact maps for first responders. These maps, provided to responders for free, often show where the damage is and where crisis victims are, allowing responders to plan and execute relief support.
You can think of the Charter as a one-stop-shop for impact maps—an essential resource, since in many cases satellite data are the only practical method to assess current ground conditions after a disaster.
This month, 14 Landsat scenes were ingested by the USGS Hazard Data Distribution System to provide data for Charter activations including:
+ Fire in Canada
+ Flood in the U.S. (Texas)
+ Cyclone Roanu in Bangladesh
The USGS HDDS also provided 51 Landsat scenes for:
+ Flood in the U.S.
+ Kilauea volcano in Hawaii
+ Fire in the Eastern U.S.
+ Indonesian Volcano
+ Tornado in the U.S.
+ Fire in the U.S.
+ Landslide in Alaska
+ The Cascade Rising earthquake exercise
Details from the USGS Hazard Data Distribution System’s RSS feed for Charter activations:
On 2016-06-06 05:09:29, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Flood_Southern_US
On 2016-06-06 05:13:44, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201605_Fire_CAN
On 2016-06-06 05:17:36, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201605_Fire_CAN
On 2016-06-07 04:54:09, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Flood_Southern_US
On 2016-06-08 07:15:07, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201605_Cyclone_Roanu_BGD
On 2016-06-08 07:16:09, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201605_Cyclone_Roanu_BGD
On 2016-06-29 12:28:40, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201605_Fire_CAN
On 2016-06-30 08:11:40, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201605_Fire_CAN
Landsat data ingested by HDDS for non-charter activations:
On 2016-06-01 04:44:34, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201409_Volcano_Kilauea_HI
On 2016-06-06 05:07:19, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201604_Fire_Eastern_US
On 2016-06-06 05:10:56, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-06 05:14:09, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-06 09:18:25, 6 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Exercise_Cascadia_Rising
On 2016-06-07 04:54:35, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201605_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-08 07:14:36, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201605_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-09 07:28:16, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201311_Volcano_Indonesia
On 2016-06-09 07:28:31, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Exercise_Cascadia_Rising
On 2016-06-09 13:58:14, 4 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Exercise_Cascadia_Rising
On 2016-06-10 07:08:45, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201409_Volcano_Kilauea_HI
On 2016-06-20 07:00:40, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201409_Volcano_Kilauea_HI
On 2016-06-27 08:22:41, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201409_Volcano_Kilauea_HI
On 2016-06-28 08:35:01, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-28 09:00:46, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-28 09:34:56, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-28 09:46:03, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-28 09:55:00, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-29 12:21:22, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201606_Fire_US
On 2016-06-29 12:35:53, 3 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-30 08:15:56, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201508_Landslide_AK
On 2016-06-30 08:41:20, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Flood_US
On 2016-06-30 09:09:56, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Fire_US
On 2016-06-30 09:17:34, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201606_Fire_US
On 2016-06-30 09:43:18, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
On 2016-06-30 09:54:41, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201606_Tornado_US
Scenes from the Polar Night
April 2, 2024
Landsat satellites have begun regularly acquiring images of ice at the poles during the winter, with enlightening results.
