Abstract

Through natural disasters that have occurred during the past five years in Chile, it is exemplified how observations acquired by different Remote Sensing sensors nowadays available, have been used successfully on several occasions, both of them during and after a disaster has occurred. The examples presented in this article are based on the earthquake and tsunami in February 2010, and volcanic eruptions in 2008 and 2011. Furthermore, those remote sensing platforms are presented that are most relevant for modern disaster management. Although damage registration is the most known application in public, Remote Sensing can also be used in all the other phases: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery. Therefore, this article also shows how and in which situation remotely sensed data can be useful. As Remote Sensing can be considered as one of the most important tools in the field of natural disaster management we conclude that in a country like Chile, its usage must be intensified to overcome any type of natural disaster.