Healing Hands International (HHI), a non-profit humanitarian organization, plans to use satellite imagery from Digitalglobe for planning and visualization efforts surrounding agricultural development and disaster relief missions in Africa and Central America, Digitalglobe announced June 14.

HHI, which provides sustainability education and training to third-world countries, is working with the Native Communities Development Corp. (NCDC), a Digitalglobe business partner, to obtain the imagery collected by Digitalglobe’s Quickbird satellite. The spacecraft can produce black-and-white images with a ground resolution of 0.61 centimeters.

NCDC’s Satellite and Imaging division also is supplying training courses emphasizing the use of ESRI‘s ArcGIS software package for analyzing and viewing satellite imagery.

"NCDC maintains a strong commitment to community development efforts, and we are passionate about supporting humanitarian initiatives that work toward improving the lives of our fellow global community members," Jason San Souci, COO of NCDC, said in a statement.

Imagery of Madras, India collected before and after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami is helping HHI to assess the extent of damage and plan for reconstruction and development initiatives. The imagery allows HHI to prioritize its efforts and develop detailed rebuilding plans. The imagery also is helpful for finding the best routes to reach areas in need.

HHI also has used imagery of Honduras, Nigeria and Senegal to assess agriculture potential and conduct pre-planning before visiting the location to implement agricultural programs like drip irrigation systems and training.

"I have been a long-time believer in the use of aerial and satellite imagery for agriculture planning and mapping," Dave Goolsby, HHI’s director of International Agricultural Development & Relief, said. "In the future, I want to expand our use of imagery to assess the progress of our important rebuilding and agricultural program implementations."