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NGA Supports Samoan Island Recovery Efforts
October 05, 2009 |
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Company: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
 The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with analysis, unclassified commercial satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence products of the Samoan Island areas devastated by the recent earthquake and resulting tsunami. NGA is also providing public access to some of the images. The relevant imagery is accessible by the general public and is hosted on NGA’s crisis response portal, NGA- Earth, www.nga-earth.org (satellite imagery and map viewer). FEMA, a component agency of the Department of Homeland Security, has been appointed as the lead federal agency for the crisis and in that role is supported by NGA. The NGA-Earth site is updated as new images are made available. In addition to the information hosted at this location, the site provides links to other federal agency sites and is an access point to leverage other NGA geospatial expertise and products. Originally established in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the NGA-Earth site uses the Internet to provide the public a single, easy-to-use entry point for locating timely, relevant, unclassified geospatial information in the event of a natural disaster or crisis. The site is also a means to communicate critical information to first responders, as well as to allow the public the ability to broadly assess property damage without having to physically return. In addition to the images, NGA has also provided geospatial intelligence products to FEMA, the U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies. The products have included graphics of major infrastructure such as the locations of airports, hospitals, police and fire stations, emergency operations centers, hazardous material locations, highways and schools. The products have also included damage assessments. These types of products greatly assist first responders and those coordinating and planning relief efforts. The graphics have provided a common operating picture that helps enable local, state and federal government elements to work effectively together since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. NGA is a Department of Defense combat support agency and a member of the national Intelligence Community. The agency’s mission is to provide geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), which is the exploitation of satellite or airborne images, fused with other intelligence and geospatial information like mapping, charting and geodesy, to help warfighters and national decision makers visualize what they need to know. NGA is the nation’s eyes. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., NGA has major facilities in the Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and St. Louis, Mo., areas with NGA support teams worldwide. Visit our Web site at www.nga.mil. – NGA – Susan Meisner (susan.h.meisner@nga.mil) |
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