GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE AND DISASTER MITIGATION VIA SATELLITE

Public health planners and response coordinators routinely access and study satellite-enabled remote sensing data for disease surveillance and disaster mitigation purposes. According to Dr Gilbert L. Rochon, associate vice president for collaborative research at Purdue University and director of the Purdue Terrestrial Observatory, “Remote Sensing has been a vital contributor to famine early warning systems (ie, FEWS Program), to food security through monitoring and early warning for desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria, Locusta migratoria), under the auspices of UN FAO’s [United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s] Africa Real Time Environmental Monitoring Information System (ARTEMIS), to identification and mitigation of infectious disease vector habitat for a wide-range of vector-borne diseases, to combining with GIS [geographic information system] for mapping disease prevalence and correlation with factors such as poverty, race, age, gender, and proximity to hazardous emissions and industrial effluent, to vulnerability assessment to natural disasters based on geographical location and other factors, as well as proximity to potential at-risk terrorist targets” (personal communication, January 2008). Rochon has received a planning grant from the North American Treaty Organization to collaborate with colleagues in Egypt and Turkey to implement a real-time remote-sensing ground station in Cairo for natural disaster mitigation and mapping of epidemics and epizootics.

SATELLITES AID IN ALERTS AND WARNINGS

During an emergency, the president, state officials, and local emergency managers need to contact the public immediately to share lifesaving information. Executive Order 13407, the Public Alert and Warning System, directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to update the national alert and warning infrastructure. As a result, FEMA created the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, which, when implemented, will use a pair of redundant, satellite-based transmission paths via the public broadcast system’s (PBS’s) interconnected satellite system (ISS) and SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio’s digital audio radio service, which is widely available in US-made automobiles.

In addition, the FEMA operations center will be able to use PBS ISS and SIRIUS XM to deliver a digital payload to enable the simultaneous transmission of voice, data, and video alert and warning information. In collaboration with PBS and the Association of Public Television Stations, FEMA is also designing and constructing the Digital Emergency Alert System to deliver emergency notifications to the broadcast community, state and local emergency management offices, and radio stations designated as primary entry points (FEMA spokesperson Alexandra Kirin, personal communication, January 2008).

Work is also under way at NASA’s Biospheric Sciences Branch and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which supports public health preparedness via satellite surveillance. This is one mission of the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance & Response System at the Department of Defense (DoD). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology and Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Laboratory at the US Department of Agriculture, use satellite technology in support of their work.

The US Army has been engaged in this effort through its Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and the Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, a pioneering organization in mosquito surveillance on a global basis. At the same time, important work on related wireless and satellite networking including advanced ambulance telemetry, rapid triage and mass casualty evacuation support, patient tracking, and biodefense measures, has been under way at the Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, which is part of the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. The new National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center is also involved.

Several states have explored the use of satellite technology in this regard. For example, the University of California, Davis Health System and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services tested portable satellite technology to link into existing statewide telehealth networks. This enabled both human and animal disease experts anywhere in the state to participate jointly in the remote examination of clinical subjects, accelerating the flow of information to state departments of human and animal health management in the process.1

SATELLITES AND DISASTER RESPONSE

Disaster response teams must immediately gauge the scope of any large-scale disaster, inspect damaged areas, and initiate emergency medical and relief efforts. A unified command structure and incident command system must be established. A satellite communications infrastructure can be activated to link commanders and emergency managers instantly to first responders and others on the scene so that appropriate human resources, equipment, and relief supplies reach afflicted populations quickly.

Olan Johnston, assistant director of operations at the New England Center for Emergency Preparedness, based at Dartmouth Medical School, said, “Satellite technology is suitable both for primary and backup modes of communication. Beyond transfers of large data files or broadcasts of live video for enhancing situational awareness and on-scene guidance, satellite offers a sound way to conduct simple command and control or point-to-point communications” (personal communication, January 2008).

Furthermore, the preparedness and response components of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and DoD are enthusiastic users of satellite technology. FEMA, US Northern Command, and the National Guard Bureau have satellite equipment at the ready whenever a disaster occurs. Nongovernmental organizations such as the Red Cross use satellite gear extensively, and the private sector—satellite industry members—deserve credit for stepping forward with donated equipment and manpower when emergencies strike. At DHHS, under the Hospital Preparedness Program at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (formerly the National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program, once overseen by Health Resources and Service Administration), hospitals and clinics across the country obtain satellite equipment and training. Organizations such as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Geospatial Management Office at DHS, and the DoD Office of Force Health Protection & Readiness are active behind the scenes as well.

“While a true sharing of current capabilities and future planning processes remains a work in progress, DHHS, DHS, and DoD appear to be working together, and a common understanding is emerging with respect to the need for interoperability and the communications capacity necessary to support it,” said Johnston.

In addition, FEMA maintains portable and mobile satellite equipment at several sites around the United States for its own use and for distribution to other frontline response agencies in the event of a large-scale disaster. FEMA can deploy 1 or more of its Mobile Emergency Response System units and a fleet of large satellite-equipped trucks and other portable and mobile satellite systems to sustain FEMA’s vital joint field office activities, among other things. For example, during the recent wildfires in California, a joint field office was established by FEMA in Pasadena, and another federal command center was established in San Diego.2

Other recent examples of the successful deployment of satellite technology as part of a massive relief effort include the responses to the December 2004 southeast Asia tsunami, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita along the US Gulf Coast in 2005, and recent floods in southern Mexico. Satellites have helped the crew and medical personnel aboard the US Navy’s hospital ship Mercy to complete their many missions successfully in southeast Asia after the tsunami and elsewhere.3

The lessons learned from these catastrophic events have resulted in the emergence of better overall satellite equipment-related deployments, activations, and operations. They have also influenced procurement strategies and the design and flow of large-scale simulated disasters undertaken during drills and exercises, including the manpower-intensive and geographically dispersed series of exercises designated TOPOFF (Top Officials) and Strong Angel.4

Satellite imagery generated by the US Air Force’s Eagle Vision satellite surveillance system played an important role during the recent California wildfires, the flooding in the Midwest in 2008, and during the broad resource- and manpower-intensive search in Nevada in late 2007 for missing aviator Steve Fossett. Eagle Vision is now available to a handful of Air National Guard units in California, Nevada, and elsewhere. Eagle Vision collects 10-m resolution panchromatic satellite imagery covering thousands of square miles s using several different satellites.5

Aerial photos from planes and unmanned aerial vehicles can flow via satellite. During a recent exercise in Maine, for example, aerial photos generated by Civil Air Patrol aircraft were e-mailed via satellite to a Bangor Fire Department communications truck serving as a mobile command post.

“The download was fast enough to be efficient. We could post them on our Smart Board. I ran a slide show for the unified command. Soon, imagery displayed on the board will be shown on 42-inch screens both inside and outside the truck,” said Bangor Fire Department Captain Tom Higgins. “Satellite Internet access has become a necessity, not a luxury, in the field today. Real-time data is (sic) important to first responders and the recovery efforts for big incidents” (personal communication, January 2008).

This example illustrates how satellite equipment, which often is funded by FEMA, is used routinely by first responders, even in smaller rural states. All 50 states have satellite-equipped National Guard vehicles known as Unified Command Suites, which accompany specially trained National Guard weapons of mass destruction–civil support teams. In addition, a growing number of states also have sport utility vehicles, known as ADVON vehicles, packed with communications gear attached to the same units.

USE OF SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY IN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS BY DEVELOPING NATIONS

In the event of a major disaster, Earth observation satellites belonging to China, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Algeria, and Nigeria can be used to provide satellite imagery of the affected zone under the auspices of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). Also, under the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters,” DMC-controlled satellite assets, as well as several other Earth observation satellites operated by various nations that are signatories to the Charter, can be deployed over disaster zones. In 2008 the Charter was activated by Canada, the US, China, and Myanmar.

In addition to disaster preparedness, according to Rochon, the recent launch of telecommunications satellites, such as Nigeria’s NIGCOMSAT I, should dramatically increase the potential for telemedicine, for distance learning, and, in combination with the GPS satellite constellations, for dynamic disease mapping (personal communication, January 2008).

“The emergence of satellites launched by and on behalf of an increasing number of developing countries, including the DMC is very promising with respect to increased utility of space-based technology for public health and environmental sustainability applications. The primary constraint, particularly in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, is one of bandwidth for data transmission and dissemination to end users and stakeholders,” Rochon added.

India’s EDUSAT also has a public health component, and another satellite is planned by India to serve as a part of a dedicated telemedicine, emergency medicine, and health services support network.

Finally, in late January 2008, China announced that it intends to use the recently launched Cbers-2B satellite (Cbers-2B is the latest of 3 Earth resources satellites jointly developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and the Brazilian National Space Research Institute) for a variety of purposes including several outlined here. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have lent their satellite assets, including meteorological or weather satellites, to numerous international satellite surveillance, monitoring, and response efforts.

SATELLITES AND THE THREAT FROM WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

Satellites can be used to monitor nuclear sites and to track the radioactive materials that are essential to the fabrication of nuclear and radiological weaponry. In particular, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Section for Information Collection and Analysis includes the Satellite Imagery Analysis Unit, for which a staff of 15 is responsible for the exploitation of satellite imagery and imagery analysis, including correlation and fusion with other sources (open source, geospatial, selective dissemination of information, and third party). The Satellite Imagery Analysis Unit produces analytical reports and other supporting materials, systems-assisting field operations, state evaluations, and imagery collection specifications. According to an International Atomic Energy Agency spokesperson, “We are trying to build a system that integrates national advanced warning (radiation monitoring) networks, but this is largely terrestrial. We also use satellite communications (including satellite phone and data systems) when local systems do not work” (Melissa Fleming, personal communication, January 2008).6, 7

The behind-the-scenes role of satellite technology in such activities as US Northern Command’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High-Yield Explosive Consequence Management Response Force, as well as the DoD’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Advanced Systems and Concepts Office, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, and DHS’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, involves the use of commercial satellite assets and capabilities and classified military satellite and intelligence satellite programs.

Nevertheless, satellite surveillance is controversial. For example, in 2007 DHS presented its satellite-based surveillance plan, which was developed by its National Applications Office and involved the dissemination of satellite imagery gathered by intelligence satellites to various state and local homeland security and law enforcement agencies. A heated debate took place that compelled DHS to postpone its implementation.8

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the complexity of satellite technology and satellite communications networks, a satellite system or satellite telephone is a commonsense solution for anyone engaged in disaster medicine and public health preparedness. As in the case of the DMC as well as the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters,” multinational agreements and a shared vision ensure that satellite technology continues to evolve, in terms of both applications and availability. The equipment involved is easy to use, reliable, and more affordable. It can perform in many, if not most, harsh environments and at remote sites where other modes of communications simply do not work. All robust and reliable hybrid wireless communications networks designed for use in any disaster scenario must include satellite technology to ensure access, redundancy, and continuity of operations.

Many readers who routinely talk, watch videos, or access broadband data services via handheld devices, including cellular telephones and Blackberrys, must keep in mind that many terrestrial wireless networks located in extremely remote areas and most temporary wireless networks that are quickly deployed and activated at disaster scenes where existing cellular telephone and other wireless network infrastructures have been wiped out entirely use satellites to provide connectivity as part of the so-called wireless backhauling process. At the same time, it must be accepted that satellite technology has its limitations. Bad weather, especially heavy rain, can disrupt or impede satellite signals, and the “urban canyon effect” created by high buildings and hilly or mountainous terrain can block satellite signals altogether.

Satellite equipment and trained satellite communications personnel were in place well in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Gustav in late August. This is strong evidence of a collective shift in attitude. For example, the rapid deployment of both the 228th Combat Communications Squadron of the Tennessee Air National Guard to Camp Beauregard, LA, to provide a satellite communications hub, and the 230th Signal Company of the Tennessee Army National Guard to Alexandria, LA, to provide so-called joint incident site communications capability—a sophisticated mobile communications system that involves satellite along with other forms of communication—in support of the Louisiana National Guard underscores the significant progress made to date in terms of satellite-related equipment acquisitions, training, and coordination.

Whereas in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, federal and state officials scrambled to distribute satellite telephones and portable satellite units, among other equipment, no such response was necessary following Hurricane Gustav’s arrival. A combined emphasis during the past 3 years on satellite-enabled networking, satellite/wireless communications redundancy, and support for continuity of operations via an assortment of satellite assets has paid off. At the same time, challenges remain, performance will improve, and the role of satellites in global preparedness surveillance and response will continue to evolve.

Author's Disclosure

The author reports no conflicts of interest.