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Haiti earthquake satellite image, produced on January 14, 2010 by the SERTIT (rapid mapping service). It shows Port-au-Prince comprised of 3 different superimposed satellite images to show the main public buildings levelled and the areas of destruction Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images
Haiti earthquake satellite image, produced on January 14, 2010 by the SERTIT (rapid mapping service). It shows Port-au-Prince comprised of 3 different superimposed satellite images to show the main public buildings levelled and the areas of destruction Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images

How satellites help analyse the Haiti earthquake

This article is more than 14 years old
Latest analysis by the UN of the Haiti earthquake shows how satellites can produce detailed data in natural disaster
Datablog: Aid pledged by each country

Pretty much as soon as the earthquake struck Haiti satellite experts were starting to analyse images to see what they show about the state of the country and the effects on its infrastructure.

It matters because without this kind of detailed intel, aid agencies struggling to get supplies to the needy can't plan out how to do it. The image above is from Sertit.

The specialists in this are Unosat - the UN team receiving support from the US government to analyse satellite imagery to be provided to the Haitian government, UN sister agencies and NGOs. Geoeye has been busy - as this piece in Wired shows.

This is what they came up with. It uses the satellite imagery to produce detailed data on which roads and bridges have disappeared under the rubble - a brilliantly forensic examination, which also has an up to date KML file with it.

Can you do something with our data?

Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group or mail us at datastore@guardian.co.uk

More on this story

More on this story

  • Four days in, Haiti asks: is anybody coming to help?

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