Photonics for a Better World

Photonics technologies are helping Nepal cope with recent devastating earthquakes. (Image: GlobalMedic) When massive, lethal earthquakes hit Nepal earlier this spring, photonics technologies from satellites to smartphones were employed to aid first responders and follow-on relief efforts. Photonics is also helping to predict future earthquake locations and possibly mitigate the potential for destruction, reported Rebecca Pool in the SPIE Newsroom . Some highlights from the article: 1. High-resolution satellite imagery : Immediately after the first earthquake, the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, a joint United Nations and European Commission initiative, instructed the UN’s high-resolution satellite imagery program, UNOSAT, and partners to start mapping the region. Images of priority regions were swiftly integrated into a web map. 2. Interferograms : To pinpoint areas at greatest risk from future earthquakes, the European Space Agency has produced interferog...

Next week, on 3 April, a new era will begin in remote-sensing-aided disaster response. The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that the Sentinel-1A radar satellite will be launched from the European spaceport in French Guiana. Sentinel-1, the first in the family of Copernicus satellites, will be used to care for many aspects of our environment, from detecting and tracking oil spills and mapping sea ice to monitoring movement in land surfaces and mapping changes in the way land is used. It will also play a crucial role in providing timely information to help respond to natural disasters and assist in emergency response. Photo: ESA/ATG media lab Sentinel-1 is designed for responding rapidly to aid emergencies and disasters such as flooding and earthquakes. The first satellite carries an advanced radar sensor to image Earth’s surface through cloud and rain and regardless of time of day. Each Sentinel mission is based on a constellation of two sat...

Remote sensing technologies provide solutions to numerous and varied problems around the world. Here are six recent applications: How can a remote yet vital wetland be monitored? Problem: The socio-economically vital Sudd wetland in southern Sudan’s Nile River swamps is threatened by overgrazing and by loss of vegetation during the wet season. But its remoteness and inaccessibility due to civil war prevents field studies. Solution: Using geospatial data-authoring software to quantify wetland cover changes, researchers from Ain Shams University in Cairo developed a process to interpret Landsat-generated imagery, map land-cover types and compare the images to produce change-detection maps. Read more in the team’s article in the SPIE Newsroom .  What happens to land stability after coal is mined? Problem: Extracting coal from underground mines generally leads to subsidence of the overlaying land within days or sometimes years. Local governments need information about land s...

The work of rebuilding after last week’s powerful earthquakes and tsunami in Japan is underway already, even as aid organizations reach out to the injured and those whose homes were damaged or destroyed. Efforts to stabilize nuclear reactors continue amid continuing earthquakes and aftershocks around the country. Among the many organizations on hand to help are: AmeriCares www.americares.org/ Global Giving www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief International Medical Corps www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/ Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders www.msf.org/ Oxfam International www.oxfam.org.uk/ Red Cross www.redcross.org/ Salvation Army International www.salvationarmy.org Save the Children www.savethechildren.org Shelterbox www.shelterbox.org/ United Nations World Food Programme www.wfp.org/ World Vision International www.wvi.org/wvi/wviweb.ns f Media coverage in a wide variety of formats provides updates as well as technology in...