The International Charter is a system that supplies free satellite imagery to emergency responders anywhere in the world.
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, 20 Landsat scenes were ingested by the USGS Hazard Data Distribution System to provide data for Charter activations:
+ Earthquake in Indonesia
+ Cyclone Debbie in Australia
+ Flood in Peru
The USGS HDDS also provided 196 Landsat scenes for:
+ California Dam Assessment
+ Earthquake in New Zealand
+ Kilauea volcano in Hawaii
+ Flood in the U.S.
+ Volcano in Indonesia
+ Tornado in the U.S.
+ Volcano in Ecuador
+ Cyclone Enawo in Madagascar
+ Fire in U.S.
+ Landslide in U.S.
 
Details from the USGS Hazard Data Distribution System’s RSS feed for Charter activations:
On 2017-03-13 09:16:52, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201612_Earthquake_IDN
On 2017-03-13 09:24:31, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201612_Earthquake_IDN
On 2017-03-31 09:11:45, 8 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Cyclone_Debbie_AUS
On 2017-03-31 16:00:16, 9 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201704_Flood_PER
Landsat data ingested by HDDS for non-charter activations:
On 2017-03-01 08:38:10, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-01 08:49:48, 3 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-02 09:20:02, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-02 09:34:26, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-02 09:47:56, 4 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-02 13:47:29, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-03 09:00:22, 3 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-03 09:03:02, 4 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-06 09:21:11, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201311_Volcano_Indonesia
On 2017-03-06 09:50:27, 4 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201611_Earthquake_NZL
On 2017-03-06 10:03:10, 7 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201611_Earthquake_NZL
On 2017-03-06 10:17:10, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201612_Earthquake_IDN
On 2017-03-06 10:32:08, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201701_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-06 10:40:11, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201701_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-06 10:48:28, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-06 11:08:47, 3 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-06 11:22:24, 5 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-06 11:39:47, 6 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-07 08:48:36, 5 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Cyclone_Enawo_MDG
On 2017-03-07 09:26:13, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-08 09:28:55, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-08 09:37:58, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-09 09:05:37, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201409_Volcano_Kilauea_HI
On 2017-03-09 09:15:04, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-09 09:24:19, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-09 09:38:57, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-09 09:55:56, 6 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-10 09:01:09, 4 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Cyclone_Enawo_MDG
On 2017-03-10 09:27:50, 3 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201702_Flood_US
On 2017-03-10 09:41:21, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-10 09:53:03, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-13 09:27:50, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201701_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-13 09:34:05, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-13 09:37:15, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-13 09:41:30, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-13 09:45:32, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-13 09:55:11, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-13 10:05:33, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-14 09:04:23, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201311_Volcano_Indonesia
On 2017-03-14 14:11:28, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-14 14:23:28, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-16 09:48:26, 7 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-16 10:18:11, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-16 10:32:16, 3 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-16 10:40:07, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-16 10:48:34, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-16 11:01:59, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-16 11:08:52, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-17 09:04:21, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201409_Volcano_Kilauea_HI
On 2017-03-17 09:13:23, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-17 09:26:20, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Cyclone_Enawo_MDG
On 2017-03-17 09:34:49, 3 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-20 08:52:41, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-20 09:02:28, 5 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Cyclone_Enawo_MDG
On 2017-03-20 09:15:08, 4 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-20 09:30:40, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-20 09:50:28, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-21 08:47:57, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-21 10:50:29, 6 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-21 11:09:19, 6 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-21 11:23:05, 5 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-21 11:40:36, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-22 08:56:57, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201311_Volcano_Indonesia
On 2017-03-22 09:07:05, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-23 08:49:26, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-23 09:00:04, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-24 07:08:22, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201507_Volcano_Cotopaxi_ECU
On 2017-03-24 07:24:48, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-27 09:40:42, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201409_Volcano_Kilauea_HI
On 2017-03-27 09:57:44, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201409_Volcano_Kilauea_HI
On 2017-03-27 10:10:37, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-27 10:25:42, 3 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Cyclone_Enawo_MDG
On 2017-03-27 10:38:36, 5 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Cyclone_Enawo_MDG
On 2017-03-27 10:53:22, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-27 11:02:19, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-27 11:12:34, 3 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-27 11:22:58, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-27 11:29:39, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-28 09:25:41, 1 LANDSAT-7 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-28 09:33:13, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Landslide_US
On 2017-03-30 10:05:20, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201311_Volcano_Indonesia
On 2017-03-30 10:25:41, 2 LANDSAT-8 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US
On 2017-03-31 09:26:04, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201702_Dam_CA
On 2017-03-31 09:35:56, 1 LANDSAT-8 scene was ingested for event: 201703_Tornado_US
On 2017-03-31 09:53:57, 2 LANDSAT-7 scenes were ingested for event: 201703_Fire_US