The Application of Charter in Meteorological Disaster Monitoring

The high resolution satellite data and Radar satellite data have become very important in the meteorological disasters and derived disasters monitoring in recent years.Although, the HJ-1A/B and ZY-3 satellite data are used in the operational application, the need for the high resolution optical and SAR satellite data still couldn't be fulfilled.As one of the successful intergovernmental mechanism of disaster mitigation, Charter aims at providing cost-free satellite data in time to those affected by natural disasters through authorized users for disaster monitoring and evaluation.China Meteorological Administration, as the authorized users of Charter in China, has twice triggered Charter activations for mud-rock flow monitoring in Zhouqu county of Gansu province on Aug 7th 2010, and flood monitoring in the northeast of China on Aug 16th 2013, respectively.It is showed that the high resolution satellite imagery is an effective complement for meteorological disasters and derived disasters monitoring by meteorological satellites and earth observation satellites, and plays an important role in the operational application.