Using space technology to better respond to disasters

The International Charter: Space and Major Disasters is an international effort to use space technology to help emergency responders and rescue crews to deal with major disasters. Member space agencies, including Canada’s, cooperate on a voluntary basis and devote resources to help alleviate the effects of disasters.

For example, in November 2020, the charter helped 500 people living on Indonesia's Mount Merapi to evacuate following warnings that the volcano could erupt. The Canadian Space Agency provided 7 scenes from RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) data to support Indonesia’s disaster intervention activities.