Natural and man-made disasters in India as well other
countries cause significant damages to both economy and
human sufferings worldwide. At the 2010 landmark Heads
of Space Agencies Summit held in Washington, D.C., the
major recommendation observed that “disaster monitoring
requires constellation of satellites with different
sensor capabilities. No single satellite can cope with
all these needs.? “What disaster managers need is a
constellation of satellites carrying a range of
sensors?. There is urgent need to develop and
demonstrate emerging tools and technique through
international and bilateral Cooperation. (
http://iaaweb.org/iaa/Summit/IAA_Study-Disaster_Management.pdf).
For example, crucially, different situations need data
collected in different wavebands. Similarly spatial
resolution requirement for different disasters vary
widely. No single country can afford to develop such
complete set of sensors and satellite system. Also
duplication of the activities causes loss of valuable
time.
As experienced by both developed and developing
countries, small satellites and also constellation of
small satellites have important role in forecasting,
monitoring and mitigating disasters like floods,
drought, typhoons, earthquakes, wild fires, windstorms,
tidal events etc. In these small satellite applications
for disaster management, temperature sensors, remote
imaging systems, radars, magnetic sensors, IR and
bolometers, pressure sensors etc. have vital role in
accomplishing the satellite missions.
The SSTDM 2014 International Workshop, sponsored by the
Indo-US S&T Forum and led by CANEUS International under
the leadership of experts from Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore, India and Lockheed Martin Space
Systems, Colorado, USA, draws on the foundation of
experience and technical excellence covering advanced
sensors and small (Nano) satellites technology derived
from both India and international communities to foster
collaboration among universities, industries and
government agencies to meet the well-defined common
needs of disaster management stakeholders from India and
other countries.
By convening the focused cross-section of stakeholders,
the SSTDM 2014 International Workshop is designed to
take a practical approach to overcoming technical and
programmatic challenges for Indo-International
partnerships in transforming emerging sensors and small
satellite concepts into disaster management
applications.
