ESC group aids Haitian response efforts with critical imagery

[The Straight Story]

ESC group aids Haitian response efforts with critical imagery


66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

1/15/2010 - HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass (AFNS) -- The 950th Electronic System Group's Eagle Vision imagery collection team here sprang into action within hours of the 7.0 earthquake that shook Haiti to its core Jan. 13.

By about 9 p.m. that evening, program officials began working to order commercial satellite imagery of the island nation from a pre-established list of world-wide vendors, said acting program manager Capt. Dan Urban. They then notified two Southeastern U.S.-based Air National Guard units and told them to be prepared to receive the imagery.

The units, the 169th Communications Flight out of South Carolina and the Alabama ANG's 232nd Combat Communications Squadron, operate Eagle Vision systems, which have been designed to receive and exploit this imagery. Both have the ability to cover Haiti within their 'imaging circles.'

"They jumped on board and began working to download and enhance images when the first commercial satellite made its pass the next morning," Captain Urban said.

Disaster response officials use the satellite imagery to plan, prioritize and optimize their actions, often comparing overlays that contrast current conditions with pre-disaster imagery.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123185888

[neverforget]

1. I do similiar stuff as a contractor for the Air Force at Hickam AFB, HI.

We obtain imagery and create maps of airfields throughout the Pacific that can be used by the AF for humanitarian assistance/disaster relief missions (HA/DR). Since I started last year, the 13th Air Force has provided HA/DR to Indonesia and American Somoa for the earthquakes/tsunamis and the Philippines for the hurricanes. They also tasked us with providing imagery and maps for potential HA/DR for the Mayon volcano should that erupt.