Satellites for Good

In her talk about natural disasters, Rohini Swaminathan explains how geomatics can be used to help the most poor and vulnerable populations. The "satellite humanitarian" defines geomatics as the study of collecting data about our planet as well as the science of processing and analyzing the data into useful information. Her objective is to collect as much data as possible and process it as quickly as possible in order to get the information to those in the most need.

The speaker explains how natural disasters disproportionately affect people in developing communities. While satellite imagery helps us to visualize data and respond to problems like floods, forest fires and humanitarian conflicts like Syrian refugee camps, there is a disconnect between technology, governments and impoverished people. The talk about natural disasters encourages putting early warning systems in place and making "the right choices at the community level."