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To plan for early and successful fire containment, land and fire 
managers rely on accurate and timely information on the 
potential for fires to ignite and spread. USGS EROS scientists, 
in collaboration with scientists at the U.S. Forest Service 
(USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 
developed the Fire Potential Index (FPI) in 1997 to help provide 
that information. The FPI assesses the probability of occurrence 
of fire for forests, rangelands, and grasslands at a 1-Kilometer 
resolution for the conterminous United States and Alaska. 
5.3 Tsunami Relief Efforts 
In response to the tsunami destruction in Southeast Asia, the 
USGS contributed to the disaster relief efforts by supplying 
before and after satellite images of the region through EROS. 
Within hours after the disaster occurred on December 26, 2004, 
EROS began providing relief organizations worldwide with 
Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 pre- and post-tsunami satellite images, 
as well as image-derived products that incorporate information 
on population density, elevation, and other relevant topics. 
These images and image-derived products are being used by 
relief organizations to make practical, well-informed decisions 
as to where relief efforts are most urgently needed and how best 
to carry out those efforts. As of June 30, 2005, approximately 
915,000 files, more than 14 terabytes of satellite data had been 
made available, covering approximately one million square 
miles of coastal and inland areas. These products can be 
accessed via The National Map Hazards Data Distribution 
System at http://gisdata.usgs.gov/ website/tsunami/. 
In addition, the USGS procured approximately 5,700 square 
miles of high-resolution commercial satellite imagery over key 
tsunami affected areas in the Indian Ocean. The commercial 
satellite imagery was purchased from Space Imaging, Digital 
Globe, and SPOT Image, the commercial products consisted of 
multispectral imagery at 4-meter resolution and a single-band 
panchromatic at 1-meter resolution and provided detailed 
depictions of tsunami-impacted coastal areas. 
The EROS emergency response team won the Information 
Resources Management Conference (IRMCO) 2005 Team 
Award for its support of tsunami relief/response/recovery 
efforts. The IRMCO Award is a prestigious award presented 
each year to those who have demonstrated exceptional ability to 
operate across organizational boundaries to improve the 
Government’s services to its citizens. The selection was based 
on the following award criteria: 
• Demonstrated leadership in operating across 
organizational boundaries; 
• Willingness and ability to treat obstacles as 
challenges, and not barriers; and 
• Measurable improvements in performance linked to 
mission objectives/results. 
2USGS 
science for a changing world 
Delineation of Damage Polygons based on Landsat Satellite Imagery 
Figure 3. Delineation of damage polygons from Landsat 
imagery with Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 90-m 
Digital Elevation Model and affected population 
6. CONCLUSIONS 
The tsunami disaster validated the following basic 
premises-that there is a great need for remotely sensed data 
during disaster response operations. The tsunami’s devastation 
was so vast that the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites, which 
provide multispectral 30-meter ground resolution imagery, once 
again became a prime source of remotely sensed imagery. 
Detailed commercial imagery was also acquired to support 
emergency response operations. 
The maturity of the U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Space 
Policy and Clearview licensing will continue to evolve and 
provide greater data availability of commercial data for U.S. 
civilian agencies. Nextview licensing, under negotiation at this 
time, will provide even greater opportunities for data sharing 
among agencies. 
While the data in its own right was valuable, what was also 
discovered via discussion at the recent CEOS meetings was the 
need to effectively process and produce appropriate products to 
support the emergencies in a timely manner. 
Future discussions on methodologies to improve response to 
emergencies will unfold through the CEOS Working Group on 
Information Systems & Services Data Utilization Task Team. 
REFERENCES 
Hazards Data Distribution System Requirements Document, 
Ron Risty SAIC, Brenda Jones, SAIC, June, 2003. 
The team was recognized for providing emergency support to 
many Federal and international organizations that helped the 
victims of the December 2004 tsunami. 
U. S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Commercial Remote Sensing 
Data Contracts (CRSDCs) Fact Sheet, May, 2005, 
http://geodatacontracts.er.usgs.gov/crsdc/crsdc_fact_sheet.html 
The tsunami event tested EROS disaster response capabilities as 
never before. The work required an enormous amount of 
coordination and support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the 
eight weeks that followed the tragedy, more than 915,000 files, 
14.4 terabytes of data, were electronically downloaded from the 
EROS FTP site. Another 1 terabyte of data was delivered on 
media. The global disaster relief community required more than 
70 percent of the EROS network bandwidth during the month of 
January. 
U. S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Commercial Remote Sensing 
Space Policy, August, 2005, http://crsp.usgs.gov/. 
U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Policy Fact Sheet, National 
Security Presidential Directive, April, 2003, 
http://crsp.usgs.gov/pdfs/factsheet.pdf 
USGS EDC Disaster Response Support, Ron Risty SAIC, 
Brenda Jones, SAIC, January, 2005