Pico Radio Networks. Researchers at the University of California's Wireless Research Centre at Berkeley have claimed that they would have a fully functional 'picoradio' network, made up of hundreds of tiny devices each consuming less than 1 mW of power. The network is expected to be operational within two years. However, there are still significant design challenges to overcome. Among these are power and energy dissipation in such a network. Although Bluetooth goes some way to meeting the requirements of a picoradio network, its cost and power consumption is expected to be too high to be considered as an appropriate system. Some of the companies supporting the work on these ultra-low power, adaptive-node networks at the Wireless Research Centre include Ericsson, Lucent Technologies, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Cadence Design Systems and ST Microelectronics.

Radars. Ground based Doppler radars are now frequently used for locating zones of wind shear, an important aid to an aircraft about to land at an airport. They map winds blowing away or towards the radar, and this done in real time helps discernment of the wind shear, which is transmitted to the control tower. Likewise great precision is needed for mapping the terrain near a coast for accurate prediction of storm surges. This is achieved by a Sideways-Looking Radar (SLR). When an SLR is fitted on an aircraft, the limitation of resolution is substantially overcome. Another useful radar type is Forward-Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) often employed to locate missing people during a disaster, who may be trapped but still alive. FLIR technology is based on measuring temperature differentials. Living persons typically generate more heat than their surroundings. Heat sensors, such as infrared cameras, could also be used to detect the warm presence of a person.

Remote Sensing. Remote sensing techniques can provide valuable information regarding the movement of the faults, known features like rivers and mountains, location of human settlements etc. These are essential in providing warning as well as information for calculating quantum of help required in terms of transportation for evacuation or for relief and rehabilitation. Appropriate remote sensing equipment in the satellites and airplanes are required for collecting and presenting information on-line. Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are using remote sensing technology to monitor gases emerging from active volcanoes. They can determine the composition of the volcanic gases by silhouetting the volcanic cloud against the plain background of the sky and plan to try to develop an automated, continuous warning system for future eruptions.

Robotics. Robots are being increasingly used for detection where man and dogs cannot reach. Scientists at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University have used more than one generation of robots to physically enter active craters to analyze the gases generated in eruptions. Although its first robot, named "Dante" failed in its mission, subsequent robots have been more successful in their forays. A snake-like robot has been developed that can slither down the pipes and thread its way through the rubble. Armed with video cameras scanning 360 degrees it may pick up the sight of a survivor. These "marsupial" robots under development will someday help search-and-rescue teams save lives in earthquake-damaged or bombed-out buildings. In a marsupial system, the mother and daughter robots work as a team. The mother is designed to quickly carry large amounts of battery power and communications equipment into a disaster site. Once there, the mother ejects one or more daughter robots small enough to poke even deeper into the rubble, searching for evidence of survivors. They then report their sightings to the mother robot, which notifies human rescuers. Once a robot is inside a disaster site, various sensors will then alert it - and its human operators - to a living presence. Eventually, robots could even carry items such as water, food, medicine or radio transmitters to people snared in debris. Studies have shown that simply communicating with people can dramatically increase their chances of survival. Robot technology might even be refined to the point where the devices could gauge a trapped survivor's pulse, give drug injections or drag out survivors. Much work has also been done at the University of South Florida on robots that look for heat, motion and colour. Whereas humans are handicapped by anothropological restrictions that is their elbows do not bend backwards and they are easily injured, using small robots that could creep down into nooks and corners can be a great help. DARPA has initiated a tactical mobile robotics programme to create rescue robots for potential military applications. Results of these labours are a closely guarded secret. Lately some work has been done on intelligent robots and sensing cyborg, e.g. light tracking fish-machine hybrid.

Sensors. There is a wide range of sensors, which have critical application to disasters, e.g. seismic, magnetic, audio, video, chemical, radiological, infrared, and visual. In a building collapse microsonics and microacoustics play a significant part in victim recovery. They can be used to listen for audible to subaudible noises of victims and distress-related movement. During the recent earthquake in Gujarat, Naval Physical Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) Cochin was assigned the task of detecting live persons under the debris. NPOL responded with legerity within a few hours and dispatched a rescue team to the earthquake area in Ahmedabad. Six persons were detected by NPOL equipment which captures sub-audible sounds from a distance of four meters or so, and subsequently rescued the victims from under the debris.