Haiti: Before-and-After Satellite Images Help Send Help Where It's Needed Most

"Satellite Images Help Focus Haiti Earthquake Relief"
Space.com (January 15, 2010)

"NASA and space agencies around the world are pointing their satellites toward Haiti to aid relief efforts and map damage caused by the devastating earthquake earlier this week.

"The 7.0 magnitude quake struck the Caribbean island Tuesday, causing extensive destruction and fatalities estimated in the tens of thousands.

"NASA's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), a joint project with Japan, and its Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite are taking images of Haiti's hardest-hit areas in multiple wavelengths of light.

"Ground teams are comparing these pictures to pre-quake photos to assess the damage, and to help rescue and relief workers know where to focus their efforts, agency officials said...."


(from ESA, via Space.com, used w/o permission. Shown ½ dimensions of original)
A "damage elevation map" prepared by comparing pre-quake and current images.

The areas with the most apparent damage are in red on that map. According to the article, ESA officials say that they'll update the map as new data comes in.

The list of nations and agencies cooperating on this included

• Canada
• China
• The European Space Agency (ESA)
• The French Space Agency (CNES)
• Germany
• Japan
• the United States

I'm fairly certain that rescue and recovery work won't go perfectly: but it does seem that there's a concerted effort to help the folks in Haiti.