VIASAR is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing advanced imagery analysis services to Search and Rescue organizations across the United States.
There are many nonprofit organizations nationwide, which are dedicated to civil Search and Rescue. Only two of those non-profits have the ability to collect high resolution imagery for Search and Rescue / Recovery operations. This same technique has been employed by state and federal organizations, as well as the Department of Defense (DoD) for decades and is recognized as an important element of both Search and Rescue and Humanitarian Relief Operations.
The Department of Defense and state and federal agencies are regularly funded and have robust capabilities via highly sophisticated equipment, well ordered organizational structures, broad communication architectures, and trained and certified analysts. These are things that nonprofit organizations dream of, but find difficult to achieve due to lack of funding and sufficient numbers of trained personnel. However, while government organizations are enabled by their budget and constrained by their passions, nonprofit organizations are constrained by their budget and enabled by their passions.
Passion is often not enough however. These organizations work tirelessly on the behalf of families who have no option but to rely upon the assistance of government agencies, which often give up too soon. Though they often work alongside state and local authorities, their efforts are sometimes disregarded or not considered legitimate, because they lack proper training and certifications in certain disciplines. Analysis of high resolution is one such discipline.
This is where VIASAR comes in.
We are a growing cadre of volunteer, professionals dedicated to supporting Search and Rescue organizations across the country for Search and Rescue / Recovery efforts, as well as Humanitarian Relief Operations. Our trained and certified analysts come from a variety of backgrounds within all branches of the United States military, as well as other government agencies, and defense contract companies. Many of our analysts have over 20 years of professional experience in the field of imagery analysis. Most are experts in a myriad of related fields as well, like image science, sensor operations and collection planning, imagery systems, and Geospatial Information and Services (GIS).
Please take the time to learn more about our vision by visiting the various areas of our website. Our mission statement is available, as well as a presentation on our current status and vision for the future.
The concept was not dreamed up; rather it came to life through the tragic and seemingly pointless death of an amazing young man – Harrison Damon. It is through his unwilling and unexpected sacrifice that others may be saved and by the efforts of many volunteers that his death will not be pointless.
