Beverley J. Adams

Object-Oriented Image Understanding and Post-Earthquake Damage Assessment for the 2003 Bam, Iran, Earthquake

This paper presents a methodology for quantifying the number of buildings that collapsed following the Bam earthquake. The approach is object rather than pixel-oriented, commencing with the inventory of buildings as objects in high-resolution QuickBird satellite imagery captured before the event. The number of collapsed structures is computed based on the unique statistical characteristics of these objects/buildings within the “after” scene. A total of 18,872 structures were identified within Bam, of which the results suggest that 34% collapsed—a total of 6,473. Preliminary assessments indicate an overall accuracy for the damage classification of 70.5%.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Building Damage in the 12 January 2010 Mw7 Haiti Earthquake Using High-Resolution Satellite-and Aerial Imagery

The paper provides an account of how three key relief organizations worked together after the devastating Haiti earthquake to produce the first damage assessment based mainly on the use of remotely-sensed imagery. This assessment was jointly conducted by the World Bank (WB), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). This paper discusses the data sources used for the assessment, the methodologies employed to evaluate building damage, and a set of independent studies to validate the final damage results. Finally, a vision of the role of remote sensing technologies in future disasters is presented that serves as a road map for methodological improvements.

Coastal Ecosystems and Tsunami Protection after the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

An exploratory study was conducted on the role of coastal ecosystems in protecting communities from the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, focusing on mangrove forests on the Andaman coast of Thailand and how well villages were undertaking environmental conservation. Remote sensing analysis identified predisaster mangrove change and postdisaster structural damage and landscape changes. Field data from five sites (20 villages), gathered via the VIEWS™ data collection system, validated and supplemented this analysis. Key informants at several of these villages were also interviewed. A preliminary comparison of villages that otherwise faced similar tsunami exposure suggests that the presence of healthy mangroves did afford substantial protection. Village performance in mangrove conservation and management efforts, and thus the presence of healthy forests, is influenced by both social capital and the design of external aid delivery programs.

The Role of Remote Sensing in Earthquake Science and Engineering: Opportunities and Challenges

Earthquake science and engineering are experience-driven fields in which lessons are learned after each significant earthquake. Remote sensing represents a suite of technologies that can play a significant role in documenting the effects of earthquakes and lead to important developments in our understanding of earthquakes. This paper describes current remote sensing technologies and the experience to date in using them in earthquake studies. The most promising activities that may benefit from remote sensing data products are identified, as well as the challenges that may impede the widespread use of remote sensing in earthquake studies. A comprehensive review of the use of remote sensing to document the effects of the 2003 Bam, Iran earthquake is presented, and recommendations for future developments in remote sensing in the context of earthquake science and engineering are provided.

Towards Rapid Citywide Damage Mapping Using Neighborhood Edge Dissimilarities in Very High-Resolution Optical Satellite Imagery—Application to the 2003 Bam, Iran, Earthquake

Remote sensing technology is increasingly recognized as a valuable post-earthquake damage assessment tool. Recent studies performed by research teams in the United States, Japan, and Europe have demonstrated that building damage sustained in urban environments can be identified through analysis of optical imagery and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. Damage detection using automated change detection algorithms will soon facilitate the scaling and prioritization of relief efforts, as well as the monitoring of the recovery operations. This paper introduces the use of an edge dissimilarity algorithm to quantify the extent of building damage.

Measuring, Monitoring, and Evaluating Post-Disaster Recovery: A Key Element in Understanding Community Resilience

The process of community recovery in the aftermath of a disaster is complex, long lasting, resource intensive, and poorly understood. Insights described here result from an ongoing project that aims to monitor, quantify, and evaluate the process of post-disaster recovery for two events, Hurricane Charley (2004, Charlotte County and Punta Gorda, Florida) and Hurricane Katrina (2005, Harrison County and Biloxi, Mississippi). A mixed-methods approach using statistical data, interviews, and remote sensing-derived data is applied in an effort to understand as well as monitor, measure and evaluate the recovery process and its outcomes. Observations associated with the post-disaster course of moving residents from temporary to transitional, and ultimately permanent housing serves as the focus for this paper. This work represents a discrete portion of a multi-sector project where Economic, Environmental, Housing/Infrastructure, and Social elements of community recovery are explored. Understanding community recovery can inform community resilience-building strategies.

Streamlining Post-Earthquake Data Collection and Damage Assessment for the 2003 Bam, Iran, Earthquake Using VIEWS™ (Visualizing Impacts of Earthquakes With Satellites)

Advanced technologies, such as remote sensing, have considerable potential for increasing the effectiveness of post-disaster reconnaissance. In the aftermath of the Bam earthquake, the EERI field team deployed the VIEWS™ (Visualizing Impacts of Earthquakes With Satellites) reconnaissance system to support urban damage assessment activities. This paper introduces the VIEWS™ system and describes its inaugural implementation for earthquake response. For the Bam deployment, VIEWS™ integrated city-wide base layers of 60 cm color QuickBird satellite imagery collected “before” and “after” the event, with a real-time GPS (Global Positioning System) feed. The satellite imagery helped direct team members to the hardest hit areas, and real-time tracking supported efficient route planning, progress monitoring, and the capture of geo-referenced digital photographs. Through the VIEWS™ visualization mode, researchers are able to replay and analyze the datasets that were collected. The VIEWS™ system was developed by ImageCat, Inc. in collaboration with the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER).

Automated Building Damage Assessment Using Remote- Sensing Imagery

The automated comparison of before-and-after remote-sensing imagery provides an effective means for rapid and widespread assessment of windstorm damage to individual buildings. The development of automated damage-assessment algorithms involves the classification of building damage signatures from a remote-sensing perspective, the identification of corresponding temporal change metrics, and the correlation of remote-sensing change signatures with actual field-based damage observations. Hurricanes Charley (August 2004) and Ivan (September 2004) marked the first major hurricanes for which high-resolution satellite images were available. These storms provided an exceptional set of before-and- after images. Investigators from Texas Tech University and ImageCat, Inc. obtained temporal satellite image sequences and performed associated ground-truthing damage surveys for these major hurricanes. This paper chronicles the use of the before-and-after hurricane imagery to develop remote-sensing-based damage scales for various building inventories; the correlation of remote-sensing damage metrics with field-based damage investigations; and the progress in automated damage assessment using temporal image sequences.

Community-Scale Damage, Disruption, and Early Recovery in the 2010 Haiti Earthquake

This study seeks to assess the levels of community-scale building damage and socioeconomic disruption following the January 2010 Haiti earthquake. Damage and disruption were analyzed for pre-event, post-event, and early recovery time periods in seven Haitian communities—three inside and four outside Port-au-Prince. Damage datasets from the Global Earth Observation-Catastrophe Assessment Network (GEO-CAN) postdisaster assessment were combined with analyses of fine-resolution satellite and aerial imagery to quantify building damage and recovery status, and were verified with field data. Disruption was assessed using community-level data obtained from interviews conducted in May 2010 with community leaders, NGOs, and government utility providers. The data pertain to 11 sectors, including shelter, livelihoods, and social networks. The findings document severe disruption and uneven restoration four months after the earthquake. Disruption showed little correlation with physical damage. Observations suggest that the impacts of the earthquake must be understood in the context of chronic disruption, and many consequences of the earthquake are merely deferred during recovery.

An evaluation of the role played by remote sensing technology following the World Trade Center attack

Remote sensing technology has been widely recognized for contributing to emergency response efforts after the World Trade Center attack on September 11th, 2001. The need to coordinate activities in the midst of a dense, yet relatively small area, made the combination of imagery and mapped data strategically useful. This paper reviews the role played by aerial photography, satellite imagery, and LIDAR data at Ground Zero. It examines how emergency managers utilized these datasets, and identifies significant problems that were encountered. It goes on to explore additional ways in which imagery could have been used, while presenting recommendations for more effective use in future disasters and Homeland Security applications. To plan adequately for future events, it was important to capture knowledge from individuals who responded to the World Trade Center attack. In recognition, interviews with key emergency management and geographic information system (GIS) personnel provide the basis of this paper. Successful techniques should not be forgotten, or serious problems dismissed. Although widely used after September 11th, it is important to recognize that with better planning, remote sensing and GIS could have played an even greater role. Together with a data acquisition timeline, an expanded discussion of these issues is available in the MCEER/NSF report “Emergency Response in the Wake of the World Trade Center Attack; The Remote Sensing Perspective” (Huyck and Adams, 2002)