| Popis: |
This damage assessment relied heavily on the use of remote sensing technology. Never before has the availability of high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery been so open and accessible. Data from different missions (World Bank-ImageCat-RIT Remote Sensing Mission (15cm optical and 2 pt/m2 LiDAR), Google (15cm optical), NOAA (25cm optical), Pictometry, as well as satellite imagery from GeoEye and Digitalglobe) has allowed damage from the Haiti earthquake to be viewed through multiple sensors and at different times. These multi-dimensional perspectives have been invaluable in understanding the magnitude and scope of damage caused by this earthquake. BACKGROUND This paper provides a brief account of how technology, inspiration and collaboration were used to quickly assess the amount of damage caused by the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake. In less than a minute, this event leveled approximately 20 percent of the buildings in greater Port-au-Prince; killed close to a quarter of a million people; injured as many; and left over a million individuals homeless. While not considered a great earthquake (from seismological standards), this event will rank as one of the deadliest earthquakes of the 21 st century. This event will also be known as one of the first events where technology (especially high-resolution imagery) was embraced at such a large scale in a real operational sense. Almost from the very onset of the disaster, high-resolution satellite imagery was available to provide the first glimpse of the devastation caused by this earthquake. Days later, very-high resolution aerial imagery was available to provide even more detail on the damage caused in this event. Together, these valuable datasets allowed a small army of remote sensing experts to provide one of the most accurate assessments of building damage in the last decade. Furthermore, this information was shared with Haitian government officials in relatively short time – within two months of the earthquake – in the |
