April 29, 2015

Pleiades satellites return their first images of Nepal after the earthquake

Two days after the earthquake that struck Nepal, the Pleiades satellites, developed by CNES, have captured an image of the capital city, Kathmandu. The satellites were tasked after the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, co-founded in 2000 by CNES and the European Space Agency (ESA), was called into action. This image and subsequent imagery will be used to locate and map the affected areas, providing valuable support for the relief effort on the ground.

On Saturday 25 April, Nepal was struck by an exceptionally powerful earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. Many of the country’s buildings and much of its unique cultural heritage has been completely destroyed, and a large section of the population has been left homeless. Recent buildings seem to have proved more resistant to the earthquake. Many villages are cut off from the rest of the world, after access roads were damaged by the quake or buried under landslides.

The images acquired by the Pleiades satellites, developed by CNES, have been made available to the humanitarian organizations working on the ground. These and subsequent images will be an invaluable aid once the aftershocks have ceased and the process of reconstruction begins. Established in 2000 by CNES and the European Space Agency (ESA), the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters provides satellite imagery free of charge to countries affected by natural disasters in order to support rescue and relief efforts. The Charter’s 15 member agencies operate a network of 41 satellites, which can be rapidly tasked to provide imagery of disaster-affected areas.

More information and pictures on the CNES imagery blog:
http://image-cnes.fr/1-loeil-du-satellite/katmandou-apres-le-tremblement...

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Contacts
Pascale Bresson    Tel: +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39     pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Alain Delrieu    Tel: +33 (0)1 44 76 74 04    alain.delrieu@cnes.fr
Julien Watelet    Tel: +33 (0)1 44 76 78 37    julien.watelet@cnes.fr

cp067-2015_-_cnes-nepal-1_va.pdf (pdf - 184.53 KB)
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