The Emergency Management & Humanitarian Aid segment covers all activities performed by civil protection actors and stakeholders, including firefighters, first responders, humanitarian NGOs and volunteers, covering the whole disaster lifecycle from prevention-mitigation and preparedness to response and recovery.
Emergency Management involves organising, planning, and implementing measures to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Humanitarian Aid focuses on delivering life-saving assistance to those in need.
From crisis anticipation to rescue, the EU Space Programme can significantly contribute to emergency management and humanitarian aid operations.
When disaster strikes, information, location and communication are key.
- Information: Copernicus provides useful Earth Observation (EO) information and services for performing risk assessments of crisis scenarios, monitoring hazards and mapping the impact of disasters on infrastructure and the environment.
- Location: The use of Galileo and EGNOS improves the safety and efficiency of first responders, providing the authenticated signals situation rooms needed to properly manage personnel and other assets on the ground.
- Communication: By bridging the gap between the need for assured and secure communication and the capabilities already offered by Copernicus, Galileo and EGNOS, GOVSATCOM delivers connectivity to first responders and enables secure and resilient communication and data transmission services.
Disaster management
Copernicus supports public authorities in all phases of disaster management, from preparedness, prevention and response, where it provides civil protection operations with products such as disaster maps, to the recovery phase, where it helps monitor the disaster’s impact on the environment, safety and the economy.
Wildfires
Public authorities rely on Copernicus services to detect and monitor the evolving situation, while on the ground, firefighters and emergency first responders use EGNOS and Galileo to safely find their way.
Flooding
Secure satellite communication, together with Copernicus and Galileo, provide rescue teams with the spatial awareness, connectivity and highly accurate positioning needed to save lives.
Maritime
Galileo-enabled beacons decrease the time it takes to detect and localise a distress signal, speeding up the rescue response and increasing the chance of survival.
Health
By providing information on such pertinent environmental factors as water, sanitation, food and air quality, Copernicus helps public health authorities identify areas prone to the emergence and spread of epidemics.
Cyberattacks
GOVSATCOM provides secure, cost-efficient communication capabilities to security and safety-critical missions, operations and infrastructure.
EU Space can also assist with such emergency situations as:
- Droughts
- Earthquakes
- Heatwaves
- Landslides
- Mass migrations
- Storms
- Volcanic activity
- Avalanches
- Tsunamis
