European satellites help Turkey disaster relief
European satellites have been providing crucial images to help relief operations in the earthquake-struck regions of Turkey. The European Space Agency's ERS satellites and SPOT satellites of the French national space agency CNES have produced detailed pictures of the disaster area in north-western Turkey allowing aid agencies to assess the extent of the damage. The satellites retain images from before the Earthquake, allowing agencies to monitor the before and after situations. Not all maps of the Izmit and Istanbul areas are up-to-date and the satellite data provides a more recent and therefore more accurate picture of the situation at ground level. However the images produced are not sufficiently accurate to pinpoint individual buildings or survivors. The data is being analysed at ESA's research institute (ESRIN) in Frascati, Italy, and at the French company, SPOT Image. In July ESA and CNES pledged to pool their satellite-based resources to provide pertinent information on disaster-struck areas, and this is their first collaboration together. Bruno Bertolini, SPOT Image's area manager for Central and Eastern Europe, said both governmental authorities and civilian organisations have requested data from his satellite systems operators. He said: 'To repair the damage in disaster-struck areas such as Turkey, you need background information on the region, the experience of professionals and up-to-date satellite data in order to work out what needs to be done to make the area safe. 'The satellite data is not better than information provided by maps as it cannot be that detailed, but it is an invaluable resource when local maps do not exist or if the maps are old, which is the case in two-thirds of the world. For a long time now we have been providing satellite data for natural disasters, and we aim to provide assistance where we can.