"What the logistical teams want are the most up-to-date maps possible of the area, to be able to work on the ground, protect people and try to find free areas to set up makeshift camps as well as to know which roads can be used and which ones are blocked," said Eliane Cubero of France's national space study centre, the Cnes.

As soon as the tidal waves hit on December 26 after a massive earthquake off Indonesia, an international space agencies charter on dealing with natural catastrophes was put into operation at the request of organisations such as the United Nations seeking images of what was happening on the ground.

"Given the size of the phenomenon we had to take action in several countries at once," said Cubero at the Toulouse-based centre, adding the affected region was divided into three zones, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

She was put in charge of coordinating the programmes using the satellite Spot 5 and 4, India's IRS, Canada's Radarsat and Envisat from the European Space Agency.

Jean-Claude Favard, coordinating images of Sri Lanka at the Cnes, said the data from the Radarsat was being analysed by the Canadians, then handled by a specialist company in Strasbourg called SERTIT.

The company was comparing archive images of stricken areas with the new images to see what had changed, and that information was then compiled and transmitted to teams on the ground.

This allowed them to see the extent of the damage as well as determine which areas remained flooded, thus providing a comprehensive map of the area, said Favard, an expert in evaluating satellite images of Earth.

A French technical engineering group, Geosciences Consultants (GSC), has also volunteered its expertise to non-governmental organisations providing maps of the devastated areas.

"We have a data-base of world maps which allows us to work out quickly the spread of disasters as well as a data-base of all infrastructures (such as airports, populated areas, harbours) which can give us a swift idea of what might have been affected," said GSC director, Richard Guillande.

GSC has been putting together fresh maps of Myanmar "where it is believed the loss of life is being downplayed."

"We want to verify through images from space if we can see zones which have been more badly affected then the Burmese government is admitting," he said.

Yangon has put the tsunami toll at 53 killed and 21 missing, but a previous UN toll spoke of at least 90 dead on December 28.

Satellites images are also useful for long-term reconstruction, Guillande said. They can allow aid organisations "to know which areas are still affected by polluted sea waters so should not be cultivated, and where fresh water supplies can still be found."

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