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Tsunami in South Asia

Images provided for international humanitarian and rescue efforts

The Canadian Space Agency is providing critical data to emergency rescue and humanitarian agencies to help them better assess the impact of the tsunami and speed relief to those most in need. RADARSAT-1 images have been compiled with data from other satellites to create informative imagery.

The Agency is the coordinator for satellite imaging activities for the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters. Through the Charter, Canada dedicates RADARSAT and expertise in service to humanity.

Images

The images were processed by Dendron Resource Surveys Inc. of Ottawa.
(Click on images to view them, and enlarge using your browser's zoom tool)

Northern Sumatra, Indonesia

An overview of Northern Sumatra, one of the worst-hit areas. The inset at the top right shows the epicentre of the magnitude 9 earthquake which caused the tsunami on December 26, 2004. The RADARSAT-1 image was acquired on December 31, 2004. The coastline before the disaster, mapped from an archived 1998 RADARSAT-1 image, is shown in dark blue, with water, in light blue, mapped from the December 31, 2004 radar image. Major urban centers are shown in yellow, roads in red. Insets show before (April 9, 1998) and after (December 31, 2004) images.

Northern Sumatra, Indonesia

The image on the left was acquired on April 9, 1998. Major urban centres are shown in yellow, roads in red. The image on the right was acquired on December 31, 2004, after the tsunami. Large areas have been flooded-shown in light blue-and roads have been washed away. The width of the image represents about 8.5 km.

Northern Sumatra, Indonesia

The image on the left was acquired on April 9, 1998. Major urban centers are shown in yellow, roads in red. The one on the right was acquired on December 31, 2004, after the tsunami. An entire section of the coastline has been washed away in this area, leaving only an island. The width of the image represents about 16 km.

Northern Sumatra, Indonesia

The image on the left was acquired on April 9, 1998. Major urban centers are shown in yellow, roads in red. The image on the right was acquired on December 31, 2004, after the tsunami. Much of the coastline has been washed away including roads and urban areas. The width of the image represents about 8.5 km.

Banda Aceh

This image was produced by compiling RADARSAT-1 and data from India's IRS satelite. It shows water in light blue, which was mapped using the RADARSAT December 31, 2004 image; the pre-tsunami coastline was mapped using an archived 1998 RADARSAT image.

Banda Aceh

Here, RADARSAT-1 data are compiled with India's IRS satellite imagery and high-resolution data from the Ikonos satellite, all of which were acquired after the disaster. Damaged infrastructure and flooded urban areas are shown. The width of the image represents about 3.5 km.

Sri Lanka

The image acquired on January 5, 2005, shows the extent of inundation on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka. The 2002 coastline was derived from a radar image of December 27, 2002. This product was generated using two RADARSAT-1 images supplied by the Canadian Space Agency.

Southeast coast of Sri Lanka

The image on the left was acquired on December 27, 2002, and that on the right on January 5, 2005. Large flooded areas are visible-shown in black-on the right-hand image. The width of the image represents about 16 km.

The following three images were provided by the National Remote Sensing Agency, Government of India.

Little Nicobar Island

The image on the left was acquired by India's IRS satellite on December 21, 2004. The RADARSAT-1 image on the right, on December 31, 2004. The small yellow squares indicate urban areas. Large scale flooding has occurred at areas indicated within yellow circles. The diameter of the region in the large circle is 3.5 km.

Great Nicobar Island

The image on the left was acquired by India's IRS satellite on December 21, 2004. The RADARSAT-1 image on the right, on December 31, 2004. The small yellow squares indicate urban areas. Large scale flooding has occurred at areas indicated within the yellow circles. Clouds on the IRS image obscure the flooded areas. An advantage of RADARSAT-1 is that it can capture image data through clouds. The diameter of the region in the large circle is 3 km.

Great Nicobar Island

The image on the left was acquired by India's IRS satellite on December 21, 2004. The RADARSAT-1 image on the right, on December 31, 2004. The small yellow squares indicate urban areas. Large scale flooding has occurred at areas indicated within the yellow circles. Clouds on the IRS image obscure the flooded areas. An advantage of RADARSAT-1 is that it can capture image data through clouds. The diameter of the region in the large circle is 3 km.

Video