When floodwaters swept through downtown Calgary in Alberta, Canada on June 22 it forced over 100,000 people to evacuate the rising waters. The International Space Station (ISS) stepped in to help, using the newly installed camera called the ISS SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System (ISERV), the ISERV ground control team took a number of pictures, 24 to be exact, when the ISS passed over Calgary to help with the emergency response and assessment of damage.
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| Earth as seen from the ISS |
In January ISERV was installed in the Earth-facing window of the ISS's Destiny module (or the LAB as it is know in Mission Control). From that small window on the ISS the camera is able to photograh 95% of the planet's populated area during the ISS's orbit. This allows researchers on the ground to use the high-resolution camera to take pictures of pretty much any where on the globe. These images are helping decision makers address environmental issues, humanitarian crises and disasters -- such as the recent floods in Canada.
ISERV was developed by NASA to support a joint project between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) known as SERVIR, Spanish for "to serve." The SERVIR project provides satellite data and tools to environmental decision-makers in developing countries and operates via regional hubs in Nairobi, Kenya; Kathmandu, Nepal; and Panama City. Through these hubs, SERVIR provides decision-support data, tools and applications for drought and flood monitoring, landslide probability mapping, disease incidence mapping, air quality and environmental condition monitoring and more.
One last thing to point out about the ISERV, it was installed by the first Canadian Commander of the ISS, Chris Hadfield.
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