A Review of Satellite Communications and Complementary Approaches to Support Distributed Disaster Response

It is well documented that Internet communications during incident and disaster response are often insufficient, which presents significant issues for first responders. The importance of reliable information and communication technologies (ICT) has been repeatedly demonstrated by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, and numerous other events. There is generally a reliance on terrestrial infrastructure, which is particularly susceptible to natural and man-made events or may not exist in remote locations. While there are numerous existing approaches and platforms to provide rapidly-deployable communication capabilities, the landscape is often ill understood due to its size, breadth, rate of change, and budget constraints.