European space agency’s strategic contribution to seismology

The impacts of disaster events such as earthquakes on economic and human lives are increasing every year, in particular due to the growing urbanization. Until recently, stakeholders involved in disaster risk management focused their efforts mainly on the response phase, immediately after the crisis. Following the recommendations of several recent studies and in order to minimize the increasing impacts of natural disasters, decision-makers and major stakeholders have showed an increasing interest in mitigation activities. Earth Observation (EO) data from space could bring a significant added value to the various phases of the seismic risk management cycle from the mitigation and preparedness phases. Space agencies need to better contribute to the management of geohazards in response to the growing request from the community of users (e.g. seismologists, insurance companies, urban planners). To foster the use of EO remote sensing data, satellite data providers have to take the appropriate measures to remove the policy and technical barriers related to the data access. They have also to increase the awareness of the community of users on the potential benefits that could be gained from the use of EO satellite data. This paper will provide examples of areas where EO remote sensing data from space could bring an added value to the current management of risks and crisis related to earthquakes. Then, the paper will describe the strategic measures undertaken by the European Space Agency in an international framework, to foster the use of satellite data by the various relevant stakeholders. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013