South Korea has sent high-resolution satellite photos to a United Nations affiliated body that may help with recovery efforts in Haiti following its devastating quake, a state-run aerospace institute said Monday. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, said its Arirang 2 satellite took photos of the area around Port au Prince, the Haitian capital, on Wednesday and Saturday and sent them to the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters.

The photos cover an area of 15 square kilometers, and are expected to be used by officials in Haiti and international relief organizations to make a detailed estimate of the extent of damage caused by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the Caribbean nation last Tuesday. They may also help with ongoing relief efforts and the rebuilding that will follow. The International Charter, initiated by the European Space Agency, started operations in 2000 and currently counts 13 space agencies from France, Canada, the United States, Japan, India and China as its members. South Korea's KARI wants to join the Charter this year. The group does not have a headquarters, but works closely with the United Nations to provide space-based data to countries affected by natural or man-made disasters. Each member agency has committed resources to support the provisions of the charter, which aim to help reduce the impact of disasters on human life and property. The Arirang 2, launched in July 2006, is equipped with a multi-spectral camera that has a resolution of 1 square meter, fine enough to distinguish individual cars. It has taken over 1.23 million photos of the Earth's surface since its launch.