Author(s)

O. M. Bucci, P. A. Brivio, G. Fornaro, R. Lanari & A. Rampini

Abstract

This work aims to describe the perspective on the use of remote sensing in the contest of security, particularly with respect to civil protection issues. Product samples of optical and microwave remote sensing systems are included to give indications about potential applications. 1 Introduction Earth Observation (EO) satellites were in origin mainly on a military basis and focused on meteorological forecasting and defense issues. However, in the last decades a large number of commercial and science-oriented satellites have been launched to allow measuring parameters associated to physical, chemical and biological processes of our planet. Images of the Earth from space collected by these instruments are nowadays provided on a regular basis to allow detection and monitoring of ground areas. In parallel, population and thus pressure of human activity on the planet are increasing at an unprecedented rate, thus raising the social demand of protection against natural as well as human threats. Earth monitoring and security play thus a central role in the EU research programs: see for instance the program for \“enhancement of the European industrial potential in the field of Security research”, \“Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)” and \“Improvement of Risk Management”. As a matter of fact, remote sensing is a powerful technology, at relatively low cost, for the generation of geospatial information, on different scales, with many applications to the risk assessment: vulnerability, prevention and protection as well as response and recovery.

Keywords