According to NPR report on December 29 2004, the U.S. military utilized a mapping tool known as landscan to provide valuable information to first responders. Landscan is used to determine a quick estimate of the populations in the affected areas. It is also used to determine where populations are concentrated. Oakridge National Laboratory developed the landscan few months before the disaster occurred. The tool works by determining how the populations in a given geographical area are likely to be distributed. It uses night satellite images to determine areas with bright lights (populated areas) and steep hills (likely unpopulated places). The resulting map divides the globe into one-kilometer grids and estimated population for each grid. The United Nations (UN) also set a a Humanitarian Information Center (HIC) in Sumatra within days of the disaster. HIC was able to provide GIS data and maps to the responding humanitarian communities, thereby allowing them to deliver the needed assastance more