MSNBC.com: Cosmic Log December 30, 2004
Tsunami seen from space
By Alan Boyle.
Dec. 30, 2004 | Updated 1:35 p.m. ET
Tsunami seen from space: The killer tsunami looked beautiful, not horrific, from 280 miles (450 kilometers) above. But even from that height, you can get a sense of the waves' power.
The QuickBird satellite, operated by Colorado-based DigitalGlobe, snapped a picture of Sri Lanka's battered southwestern coast just an hour after the first wave hit on Sunday morning. The detailed imagery, also available via NASA and GlobalSecurity.org, shows whirling whitecaps receding from the shores of Kalutara, rolling back from streets filled with sand, mud and debris.
A more placid image shows what Kalutara, a resort and fishing village 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Colombo, looked like almost a year ago.
USA Today provides a grittier perspective from ground zero in Kalutara, where Sunday's 30-foot wave blew away buildings and lives. Relief agencies say Sri Lanka suffered a heavy blow, with an estimated 21,000 lives lost.
QuickBird and another privately operated satellite, Space Imaging's Ikonos spacecraft, are pumping out imagery as fast as they can for the benefit of humanitarian agencies and governments trying to get a fix on the full extent of the devastation.
"Space Imaging is responding to requests from a U.S. government agency that has ordered more than two dozen areas - mostly along coastlines - to be imaged," company spokesman Gary Napier said.
From an altitude of 423 miles (677 kilometers) Ikonos delivered comparative imagery of the Male International Airport in the Maldive Islands, taken in December 2003 and on Dec. 27, the day after the tsunami hit. Other sample images focus on the Indian coast around Madras (Chennai). The tsunami killed more than 13,000 people in India and at least 67 in the Maldives.
The Pentagon's National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has turned its own spy satellites to survey the devastation as well. The imagery is being used to funnel damage assessments to the U.S. agencies handling disaster relief, so they can figure out where workers and life-support supplies should be sent first.
The only humans who could have seen the catastrophe with their own eyes from outer space - the crewmen of the international space station - missed out. Space.com reports that the station was in the wrong orbit and on the wrong schedule to see the tsunami while it was happening.
"We did hear the tragic news about the tsunami and were deeply saddened for all the people affected," station commander Leroy Chiao said.
Meanwhile, science-fiction author and longtime Sri Lanka resident Arthur C. Clarke provided an update on his situation Wednesday via his foundation's Web site:
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"I am enormously relieved that my family and household have escaped the ravages of the sea that suddenly invaded most parts of coastal Sri Lanka, leaving a trail of destruction.
"But many others were not so fortunate. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all those who lost family members or friends.
"Our staff members are all safe, even though some are badly shaken and relate harrowing firsthand accounts of what happened. Most of our diving equipment and boats at Hikkaduwa were washed away. We still don't know the full extent of damage - it will take a while for us to take stock as accessing these areas is still difficult."
Sir Arthur recommends that contributions be made to international aid agencies such as CARE or Oxfam, or to Sri Lankan charity Sarvodaya, "which has a 45-year track record in reaching out and helping the poorest of the poor."
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