Star Wars helps Darfur find water

Refugees in Chad's Iriba refugee camp are directly benefiting from the technology

Satellite technology first developed as part of Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" programme in the 1980s is now being put to use to find water supplies in crisis-hit western Sudan and Chad.

A French scientist, Alain Gachet, has adapted elements of Star Wars - designed to counter the threat of a nuclear attack on America by using satellites to pinpoint missile launches - to locate sources of water beneath the Sahara.

The technology is proving highly useful as region struggles to cope with the fallout from the Darfur crisis in Sudan, with thousands of refugees heading over the border into Chad.

"When the country is very dry, very rough, without vegetation, it is a great tool -because you can scan thousands of square kilometres within weeks," Dr Gachet told BBC World Service's Outlook programme.

"We see the top of the water body - the core of the water body could be deeper, but at least we see the top.

"For example, in Iriba in Chad, it allowed us - within a month and a half - to tell where to settle the refugees."

Complex technology

Dr Gachet's system works by using the satellite to send out radar, which penetrates the atmosphere and is able to map carefully and accurately the surface of the ground.

The radar beam can also penetrate the ground, and identify buried objects. The radar generates a very specific response from water bodies under the sand, and detects the water to within 15 metres.

The system works through radar beams sent out by satellite

"It's a very complex combination of new technologies," Dr Gachet said.

It is being put into use in Chad as the situation is making finding water a matter of great urgency.

Driven from their homes by tribal militias, some 200,000 people have fled into the country, and most are now in refugee camps.

Dr Gachet said that he had seen "dead people, dead animals all around the water points" in these areas, which meant that water supplies quickly became infested with disease.

"It is not surprising that today, you have big epidemics that are spreading like fire," he added.

He added that mistakes with water exacted a heavy toll and risked large-scale riots, giving the example of the Amnabak camp, at which 5,000 people have settled.

"In the beginning, they asked me, 'Mr Gachet, can you find water in Amnabak' - I said, 'no - there is no water in Amnabak. Why are those people here?'" Dr Gachet recalled.

But using the technology, they had found a new camp 20km to the north which had good access to water, and transferred the 5,000 people to the new settlement.

'Thank you, Mr Reagan'

There have been warnings that the 21st Century is likely to see a number of wars fought over water.

Last year, former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev warned that "We are facing some real conflicts."

Ronald Reagan invested in Star Wars to counter the threat of Soviet nuclear missiles

There are hopes, however, that the satellite location system might ease this potential crisis.

"[Dr Gachet's] work is extremely helpful," said Ben Harvey, a water specialist working at one of the camps in Chad.

"To be able to have high-definition maps that can tell you basically anywhere on the surface of the Earth where you can find water within 15 metres, where you can find water that's quite close to the surface within 15 metres - I think has a very important impact on the future of the developing nations."

Dr Gachet stressed the importance of the technology the Reagan's government had invested in that had been adopted to find water - although he jokingly pointed out the contradiction.

"We French have to be honest: we are anti-Reagan by principle, by philosophy," he said.

"I'm sorry to say that Reagan did fantastic things. He developed, during several years and with a huge amount of money, the Star Wars programme. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, all these technologies became available to civilians.

"So I have to say, 'thank you Mr Reagan'."