Cloud-free satellite mosaics for disaster management

Disaster managers are increasingly using satellite observations for mitigation, response and recovery activities associated with many different types of natural disaster. But cloud-cover remains an issue for optical sensors in many parts of the world; few unobstructed views of many areas prone to hazards exist despite the higher temporal coverage provided by the Landsat 7 and Terra spacecraft. Here we describe an effort by the Pacific Disaster Center, Maui, Hawai\´i, to develop on-line capabilities that enable the disaster management community to have better access to satellite images that are more directly useful to their applications. Specifically, we describe a web-based capability that uses multiple Landsat 7 images to produce "cloud-free" mosaics. Additional disaster management applications of Terra and Ikonos data are also discussed