MAD Services Subject Matter Experts use AWS to respond to Earthquake in Türkiye in conjunction with Help.NGO

In February 2023, Southeast Türkiye experienced a devastating 7.8m earthquake which left left a staggering toll of over 57,300 confirmed deaths, 13.5 million people directly affected, 115,000 injuries, 2.7 million displaced, and significant damage to critical infrastructure.

Equipped with drones and portable satellite connectivity from Intelsat, MAD Services supported the Help.NGO Disaster Response Team’s Drone Operations in mapping and processing drone data of over 1,150 hectares, producing imagery of critical locations such as Kahramanmaraş, Antakya, Elbistan, Sekeroba, Nurdagi, Islahiye, and Gokcedere. This data was uploaded in real-time to an Amazon Web Services Simple Storage Solution (S3) volume using portable Snow devices rapidly provisioned by MAD Services SMEs.

Given its high level of durability, accessibility from anywhere via the internet, and scalability, S3 volumes are an incredibly useful tool to store and distribute drone data and other high-resolution data-intensive imagery, like that via satellite. When combined with AWS Edge devices – like AWS Snowball and Snowcone – raw data gathered in hard-to-reach field locations can be uploaded directly to the cloud where it can be processed, manipulated, and shared remotely.

In Turkey, data was distributed to first responders for search and rescue, damage assessment, and reconstruction planning, and will serve a valuable reconstruction as Turkish authorities look to rebuild. The data was also distributed to the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOTOSM), leveraging open-source technology to identify structures in disaster-affected areas in Syria and Türkiye and present them in a way that is open and accessible to humanitarians globally.

With expertise from the governmental, non-governmental, and multilateral spaces, MAD Services SMEs will continue to support rapid innovation, design, testing, and fielding systems and solutions across the technology and logistics space, including those with a profound humanitarian impact.