Abstract
Space communications is an ideal candidate to handle critical and emergency situations arising on a regional to global scale, provided there is effective integration among them. The article presents a review of solutions offered by space communication systems for early warning and emergency communication services. It includes an up-to-date review of public research and standardization activity in the field, with a specific focus on mass alert. The main technical issues and challenges are also discussed along with the cutting-edge research from the scientific community.
INTRODUCTION
Climate changes and complex political scenarios have generated unseen contexts for public authorities called to react to emergency situations. Fast chained events require exceptional capacity for monitoring and action, often over wide areas. In the response phase, satellite communication technologies provide operative communications regardless of the availability of regular terrestrial infrastructures. These capabilities are built on three major properties of satellite communications: broadband capabilities with flexible management, inherent broadcasting, and resilience with respect to Earth damage. By taking advantage of these properties in a timely manner, it is possible to effectively apply them to manage the early warning and emergency response phases. With this aim, we present a review of research and standardization activities, specifically focusing on mass alerting. Additionally, we discuss some relevant scientific and technical challenges toward improving the effectiveness of satellite communications.
CONCLUSIONS
Environmental changes are leading to ever more frequent natural events with regional (sometimes global) impact on peoples’ lives. Space communications have great potential to help in emergency management, even though this potential is still not fully exploited due to limited or even nonexistent integration among different satellite systems. Two main contributions can be provided by satellite systems to the management of crises: dramatic reduction of latency in the delivery of alerts to the population, and efficient and robust exchange of information among emergency operators and authorities. Several ongoing activities have been reported, essentially conducted through research projects and standardization activities. The emergency context also represents a great research opportunity for scientists, whose aim is the improvement of quality, efficiency, and availability of emergency communications assisted by satellites.
