The "Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information" (ZKI) is a service of DLR's German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD). Its function is the rapid acquisition, processing and analysis of satellite data and the provision of satellite-based information products on natural and environmental disasters, for humanitarian relief activities, as well as in the context of civil security. more ...

Earthquakes in Haiti on January 12, 2010

January 13, 2010 - updated on January 28, 2010
On January 12, 2010 a major earthquake of magnitude 7.0 and a depth of 10 km struck southern Haiti at 21:53 UTC. The epicentre was registred about 10 km deep and 16 km southwest of the capital city Port-au-Prince. The city was hit severely. Communication collapsed and major damage to buildings and infrastructure was reported. more ...

Flooding in Albania

January 8, 2010
Heavy rainfalls and unusually warm weather have caused flooding in the northwestern region of Albania since January 4, 2010. Furthermore, the authorities were forced to open the gates of a hydropower station dam to prevent it from breaking. more ...

Earthquakes in Indonesia (Sumatra) on September 30 and October 1, 2009

October 1, 2009
On September 30, 2009, a severe earthquake took place in the Indian Ocean with a magnitude of 7.9 and several aftershocks. The epicentre was registered about 50 km north-eastern of Padang in a depth of 85 km. On October 1, another earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 occured about 200 km southeast of Padang. The heavy shocks of both quakes caused the collapse of many buildings and bridges, fires broke out and major parts of the technical infrastructure failed. more ...

Flash floods near Istanbul, Turkey, September 11th, 2009

September 12, 2009
Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding in Istanbul and northwestern Turkey on September 8, 2009, killing at least 30 people, destroying bridges and flooding houses and streets. The map shows pre-event water extents (as detected on March 24, 2009) in the area west of Istanbul, compared to those analysed on September 11, 2009, after the event. Also annotated are areas which appear moist in the radar data. more ...

Forest fires in Greece

August 24, 2009
Several forest fires have occurred since August 21, 2009 in the prefecture Attica, north-eastern of Athens, Greece. The fires, fanned by strong winds, destroyed thousands of hectares of forest land, farming fields and olive groves. Many residents had to be evacuated from their homes. more ...

Forest fires on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain

August 8, 2009
Several forest fires occurred between July 31, 2009 and August 3, 2009 on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain. 30 houses and several vineyards were destroyed. More than 4000 residents were evacuated from the area on August 1, 2009. The map shows the burnt areas as well as the locations of active fires between July 31st and August 3rd. more ...

Forest fires in Sardinia, Italy

July 29, 2009
From July 23, 2009 to July 25, 2009 several forest fires occurred in Sardinia, Italy, causing at least two deaths. Many residents had to leave their homes. The maps show the burnt areas and the spread of the fires. more ...

Landslide in Nachterstedt, Germany, July 18th, 2009 at around 5:40 AM

July 22, 2009 - updated on August 14, 2009
A landslide occurred on July 18, 2009 at around 5:40 AM in Nachterstedt in the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The resulting breakline has a length of 350 m. A two-story building, parts of an apartment building and parts of a street slide down. The former mining area is still at risk of further earth movements and limited access is granted even to rescue workers. more ...

Landslide in Aini Jamoat, Tajikistan

May 18, 2009
On May 14, 2009 heavy rainfall lead to a mudflow in Aini Jamoat in the Khatlon province in western Tajikistan. About 6000 people were affected by the event, 200 houses were destroyed and about 300 families had to be displaced. more ...

Flooding in Maranhão and Piauí, Brazil

May 11, 2009
In April and May, 2009, heavy and long lasting rainfall led to serious flooding in the north of Brazil. Ten of the 26 states of Brazil were heavily affected by the floods. Several people were killed and more than 300,000 displaced. Most of the fatalities have occurred in Brazil's northeast. more ...

NATO summit in Strasbourg/France

April 2, 2009 - updated on April 22, 2009
On April 4 2009, the leaders of the 26 NATO countries met in Kehl and Strasbourg. Extensive security measures were being implemented in both cities. In the course of the ARGOS project, satellite images of both cities on that day were taken to provide examples for the possibilities and limitations of satellitebased analyses of large-scale events. more ...

Flooding of Kavango, Namibia/Angola

March 25, 2009
Heavy rains in Angola and parts of Zambia's Western Province led to flooding in Namibia's north and north-eastern parts. On March 18, 2009 emergency was declared in the concerned areas, where floods have caused large-scale destruction to homes, schools, health facilities, mahangu and maize fields and infrastructure. more ...

Severe flooding in northern Namibia

March 1, 2009
Similar to the year before severe flooding affected northern Namibia due to heavy local rains and inflow of water from northern regions during late February and March 2009. Due to the complex drainage pattern in the region satellite observation is an important tool to provide an overview of the large area flood situation, which is of very patchy and persistent character in the areas affected. more ...

DLR-UN-Spider Capacity Building Workshop in Namibia

February 27, 2009
In January 2009, the German Aerospace Center, DLR in collaboration with UN-SPIDER are carrying out a national Capacity Building Workshop and technical training on earth observation technology for flood mapping and emergency management in Namibia. more ...

Demonstration of traffic monitoring from space - Example case: Australian bushfires

February 11, 2009
A traffic monitoring system developed by the Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) allows the monitoring of instantaneous traffic circulation also during disasters. This nearly fully automatic processor was tested by ZKI during the devastating bushfires in Australia in early February 2009. more ...

ZKI maps floods in Mexico

November 3, 2008
Since October heavy rain caused floodings in several states of Mexico, affecting farmland, motorways and thousands of homes. The towns of Tenosique, Balancan, Emiliano Zapata and Jonuta which are located along the River Usumacinta have been particularly affected by the flooding. more ...

20,000 homeless after torrential rain in Yemen

October 31, 2008 - updated on November 4, 2008
In late October 2008 the third tropical cyclone of the season caused heavy rains and flash floods in Yemen. The floods have killed about 100 persons and left approx. 20 000 people homeless. The most affected region suffering under severe damages to infrastructure, houses and farm land is the Say'un district with estimated 75% of buildings destroyed or severely damaged. more ...

Refugee Camp Mapping in Sudan

October 30, 2008
Because of many regional conflicts over the last 20 years, Eastern Sudan hosts large populations of refugees in the arid states of Kassala, Gedaref, Gezira and Sennar. ZKI produced several large scale maps of Refugee Camps in this area on request of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). more ...

Atlantic tropical cyclones: ZKI maps flooding in Haiti

September 12, 2008 - updated on October 8, 2008
Since mid of August, the hurricanes "Fay", "Gustav", "Hannah", and now on September 8, 2008 "Ike" hit Haiti, leaving behind a path of destruction. More than 500 people died and many more are still missing. Strong rain intensity as a consequence of the hurricanes led to large inundations in the poorest country of America. more ...

Embankment breach: ZKI maps flooding in India/Nepal

August 30, 2008
On 18th August, 2008 the Koshi River breached an embankment causing flooding in the Sunsari district as well as further South in the Supaul district of Bihar which is situated 7 kilometres downstream in India. It also inundated the districts of Madhepura, Araria, Purnea and Saharsa. more ...

Preparation for the installation of a Tsunami Early Warning System in Indonesia

July 3, 2008
In four months - on November 11 - the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System will be officially inaugurated in Jakarta. Therefore DLR conducted a workshop with Indonesian partners to prepare for the deployment and installation of the newly developed Tsunami Decision Support System (DSS). The workshop took place at the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) in Oberpfaffenhofen for elaborating and fine-tuning the last system details and organizational issues. more ...

Successful DLR/BKA workshop leads to closer cooperation

June 30, 2008
On June 3, 2008 the German Aerospace Center (DLR) welcomed Jörg Ziercke, president of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Prior to the meeting, DLR organised a workshop dealing with satellite images and navigation techniques. Participants were representatives of the German Federal Criminal Police Office, different State Offices of Criminal Investigations, the Federal Police and the Federal Ministry of the Interior. more ...

Members of international relief organisations participate successfully in Respond User Training at DLR

June 20, 2008
The practical training event from 28th- 29th May 2008 is one among several outreach and information activities of Respond to give members of relief organisations a better understanding of products derived from satellite imagery. During different hands-on sessions participants were acquainted with geographical information systems (GIS), satellite image interpretation and the use of Respond products. more ...

Earthquake in China

June 20, 2008
On May 12, 2008, the strongest earthquake of China since 1976, occurred 90 km northwest of Chengdu in the Province of Sichuan. Measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, the earthquake was followed by a series of severe after-shocks that struck the whole region. Over 69,000 people died, 374,141 people were injured and 17,469 are still missing (GOV CHN, June 12, 2008). more ...

Exercise for rapid disaster relief from space

June 11, 2008
In Cyprus, disaster management experts of the European Union currently test a satellite-based system for monitoring disaster areas. On behalf of the European Commission the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has developed a system that enables disaster relief workers to access up to date satellite images while being in the field and to exchange data among themselves. more ...

Tropical Cyclone Nargis: ZKI maps flooding in Myanmar

May 8, 2008 - updated on May 16, 2008
On May 2nd, 2008, tropical cyclone 'Nargis' swept over Myanmar and left behind a path of destruction. Wind speeds of more than 200 km/h and a storm surge of up to 3 meters in height destroyed more than 90 percent of housing and large parts of infrastructure in some regions. It is believed that more then 100,000 people could have died and more than a million people have lost their homes in the disaster (16/05/08). more ...

Floods in Namibia

March 17, 2008
In January and February, 2008, heavy and long lasting rain fall led to partially serious flooding in Northern Namibia and Southern Angola. Many rivers and wadis were deeply inundated with water, which has caused serious damages to infrastructure and housing, and forced thousands of people to leave their homes. more ...

Invitation to all users and potential users of Respond maps and information services

March 11, 2008
In the frame of the GMES initiative Respond, DLR invites the humanitarian actors with interest in geo-information to a technical user training at DLR premises Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, on May 28th – 29th, 2008. more ...

Oil spill in Antarctica from sunken ship MV Explorer

December 20, 2007
On November 23, the MV Explorer, an adventure travel ship, hit an iceberg whilst passing through pack ice in the Bransfield Strait about 50 nautical miles south of King George Island, Antarctica. more ...

ZKI produces maps of affected regions after tropical cyclone 'Sidr' in Bangladesh

November 21, 2007
During the night from Nov 15 and 16, 2007, tropical cyclone 'Sidr' swept over the the southwestern part of Bangladesh, leaving behind a trail of destruction. With wind speeds of up to 240 km/hr at the coast and up to 160 km/hr at the capital Dhaka, Sidr forced three million people to flee from their homes in 15 coastal districts of Bangladesh. more ...

Oil spill at the Kerch Strait between Ukraine and Russia

November 21, 2007
A storm on Sunday, 11 November, broke a small Russian oil tanker, the Volgoneft-139, in half spilling at least 1,300 tonnes of fuel oil in the Kerch strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The same storm sank at least four freighters, three carrying sulphur and one with a cargo of scrap metal. On the shore near port Kavkaz, the environmental consequences of the heavy oil spill are disastrous. more ...

ZKI maps flooding in Mexico with high-resolution radar satellite TerraSAR-X

November 7, 2007 - updated on November 9, 2007
In early November, heavy rainfalls lasting for a whole week led to devastating floods in the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, displacing about one million people and appoximately half of Tabasco's overall population. About 80% of the state of Tabasco's surface (overall area: 25,000 km²) has been temporarily flooded. The region around the city of Villahermosa with its population of approx. 600.000 was hit most by the floods. more ...

German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) is on a good track

November 6, 2007
Within the frame of today’s International Steering Committee Meeting of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Indonesian State Ministry of Research and Technology (RISTEK) the DLR prototype of the newly developed Decision Support System (DSS) was presented. The meeting of this committee took place on November 6 and 7, 2007 at DLR´s German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) in Oberpfaffenhofen. more ...

First UN-SPIDER Office providing space information for disaster management inaugurated in Bonn

October 29, 2007
A new United Nations Office has opened in Bonn, Germany. The new office is integral part of the UN Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) established by the UN General Assembly in New York last December. more ...

DFD co-coordinates the 2nd European Emergency Exercise GNEX’07

October 15, 2007
The German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) of DLR is managing the second European wide exercise of the Network of Excellence GMOSS on the use of satellite imagery for supporting civil security crisis response capacities. The exercise involves more than 15 GMOSS contractors, associated partners and end-users and will last from October 15th to 18th. First results will be presented to the European Commission on October 19th. more ...

Forest fires in Southern Europe, August 2007

August 27, 2007
Southeastern Europe is currently affected by the worst wildfires for decades. Conditioned by extrem heat since middle of August 2007, large natural or man-made fires started. Since the end of August, Greece is the most affected country. The fires of the last days killed at least 60 people so far. It is expected that the death toll rises, since many villages are still trapped by the fires. At the moment, the Peleponnes peninsula is affected most. more ...

Fires on the Canary Islands, August 2007

August 9, 2007
The islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands (Spain) were affected by some of the worst forest fires in the history of Spain. The fires forced more than 10.000 people to leave temporarily their homes, some of which were destroyed by the fires. The Spanish Government and the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) of the European Commission triggered the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ to estimate the damaged area based on satellite data. more ...

Flood in the United Kingdom, July 2007

July 26, 2007
Following the severe flooding that had affected the central and northern parts of England in the end of June and the beginning of July, the South-west of England and Wales have been hit by severe weather again, with flooding affecting thousands of homes and leaving many without water and electricity. The areas worst affected include the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, Hereford and Worcestershire. more ...

Flood in England and Wales, England July 2007

July 6, 2007
Heavy rainstorms caused by an extraordinary weather situation led to major floodings in parts of the UK. During June 2007 a large low-pressure area coming from the Atlantic Ocean was trapped over Wales and England. The highest precipitation rates measured over the last decade were recorded at a number of meteorological stations in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands. Recently, those areas are mainly affected by floods which led to breakdowns in power supply and the evacuation of residents such as in the city of Sheffield. The threat of reservoir dam breaks further exacerbated relief activities of the local authorities. more ...

DLR maps for G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, June 6 to 8, 2007

June 11, 2007
From June 6 to 8, the G8 leaders met for their annual summit in Heiligendamm, Germany. The area of Heiligendamm was spaciously protected for security reasons and the inner security zone was confined by a fence. Many governmental and non-governmental organisations were involved in the logistical organisation and implementation of safety and security for both the official summit and the protest activities. more ...

Earthquake in West Sumatra, Indonesia 2007

March 6, 2007
Two earthquakes occurred on March 6, 2007 at 10:49 am and 12:49 am local time, magnitude 6.2 and 6.3 (GEOFON) respectively in West Sumatra province / Indonesia, which led to heavy destructions. The epicentre was located 16 km southwest of Batusangkar District and 55 km northeast of the regional capital Padang. Up to now 73 dead people and approx. 4000 heavily damaged buildings are reported by the regional disaster management authority (March 9, 2007). more ...

Floods in Mozambique: ZKI supports UN World Food Programme

February 12, 2007
Since end of January, heavy seasonal rains in south-eastern Africa are causing severe flooding, especially along the Zambezi River (Mozambique). The National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) declared Red Alert on February 4th for the whole Zambezi River basin, expecting this situation to last until end of February. more ...

DFD co-coordinates the 2006 Emergency Exercise GNEX06

October 10, 2006
Within the framework of the GMES-GMOSS network the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) of DLR is managing an European wide exercise on the use of satellite imagery for supporting civil security crisis response capacities. The exercise is executed in close cooperation with the "Centre National d'Études Spatiales" (CNES) and the University of Linköping (LiU). more ...

Environmental assessment of 'Buruli ulcer' reservoir in Ivory Coast

September 5, 2006
Buruli ulcer, also known as tropical ulcer, is an emerging necrotic skin disease, caused by the Mycobacterium ulcerans. Since 1986, the disease has become epidemic with 6.000 cases per year in Ivory Coast. This environmental mycobacterium has been recovered from water and soil in swampy areas. However, the route of transmission remains unclear. more ...

Oil Spill at the Lebanese Coast

August 1, 2006
In the course of the conflict in the Middle East, the oil-fuelled power plant of Jieh, located directly on the coastline approximately 30 km south of Beirut was hit by bombs on July 13 and 15, 2006. Part of the storage tanks caught fire and were burning for several days. A large part of the fuel was spilled into the Mediterranean Sea as a result of the blast. more ...

Earthquake in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

May 30, 2006
After the Tsunami of December, 2004, Indonesia was hit by another severe natural disaster. In the morning of Mai 27, 2006, an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 (USGS) led to heavy destructions in the region of Yogyakarta on the Indonesian island of Java. Up to now, more than 5,000 bodies were found and 20,000 injuries were counted. Some 200,000 people lost their homes. more ...

Danube flood in Romania

April 19, 2006
In Romania, snowmelt and long lasting rainfalls led to a dramatic increase of water levels at the Danube River to values which were never measured before. More than 4,700 people had to be evacuated from the flooded regions so far, 3,000 of them in the village Rast in the southwest of the country alone. more ...

Flooding in Hungary

April 18, 2006
Snowmelt in combination with heavy rainfalls over the last weeks led to an aggravation of the flooding situation in Southeast Europe. In Hungary, the most critical situation shifted from the Danube river, where the water level had reached the highest levels for more than 100 years, to the Tisza river (April 18, 2006). more ...

Elbe Flood 2006

April 3, 2006
After the devastating flooding in August 2002, the Elbe region in Saxony is currently affected by a flood once again. Strong rainfalls in conjunction with snowmelt in the Krkonose Mountains (Czech Republic) led to a rise of the Elbe River to a level of currently 7.45 meters. more ...

Philippines Landslide

February 17, 2006
On Friday, 17 February 2006 a landslide triggered by heavy rains buried the village of Guinsaungon, Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte Island (Philippines). Most of the approximately 300 houses and the elementary school were fully covered by the mudslide. more ...