BARCELONA — When a natural disaster or crisis hits, access to information is critical for those responding. Increasingly, satellites are being used to plug information gaps — providing communication via satellite phones, generating maps of affected areas through satellite imagery, and providing location services through satellite-enabled navigation applications.
However, experts told Devex that even as reliance on satellite technology grows, many aid workers are still not familiar with how it works and how it should be used — and this can sometimes get in the way of disaster response.
Satellites have changed the way some organizations do disaster response and the services they’re able to provide to those affected, said Noe Hatchuel, senior international emergency field operations officer at the American Red Cross.