Visakhapatnam: Space technology has emerged as one of India’s most powerful tools for reducing disaster risks in an era of accelerating climate change, enabling authorities to forecast extreme weather, map hazards, monitor disasters in real time, and support rescue and rehabilitation efforts, said National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) director Prakash Chauhan.Chauhan inaugurated the NICES-Coastal Observation Research Laboratory at Andhra University on Friday before delivering an endowment lecture on ‘Space Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction in a Changing Climate’. He said the NRSC has developed a 25-year cumulative flood hazard map of the country at a 50-metre grid resolution, which is now being used for infrastructure planning and flood risk assessment.“India has also operationalised a flood early warning system that combines IMD rainfall forecasts with hydrodynamic models. The system can predict flooding 36 to 52 hours in advance, enabling district authorities to evacuate vulnerable communities and prepare relief measures well before floodwaters arrive. NRSC has also identified 146 landslide-prone districts and mapped more than 18,000 glacial lakes in the Himalayas, with 180 high-risk lakes under continuous monitoring for possible glacial lake outburst floods,” said the NRSC director.He cited several recent disasters, including the Wayanad landslides in Kerala, the Vijayawada floods, Bihar floods, the Sikkim glacial lake outburst flood, and the Dharali flash flood in Uttarakhand to illustrate how climate change is amplifying disaster risks across the country.Referring to IMD data, Chauhan said India witnessed several extreme rainfall events exceeding 200 mm in 24 hours during 2024, with the frequency of such events increasing in recent years. “While natural hazards cannot be prevented, their impacts can be significantly minimised through timely forecasting, early warning systems, risk assessment and scientific planning enabled by satellite data. Space technology supports disaster management through three core services-earth observation satellites, satellite communication, and global navigation satellite systems. India currently operates around 20 Earth observation satellites, complemented by data from international satellite missions. These satellites provide imagery ranging from 30-centimetre resolution to global-scale observations, enabling continuous monitoring of weather systems, landforms, oceans and vegetation,” added Chauhan.