Resilient Disaster Response: Using Remote Sensing Technologies for Post-Earthquake Damage Detection (2001-2003)

The objectives of this research are to characterize urban building damage , using a comparative analysis of remote sensing imagery acquired before and after an earthquake event, and to develop preliminary damage detection algorithms for locating collapsed urban structures. R emote sensing technologies are emerging as useful post-earthquake damage evaluation tools. Recent studies in Japan, Europe and the U.S. demonstrate that satellite-based imagery can identify broad zones of damage following significant earthquake events. For example, Wesnousky et al. (2001) identify the damage caused by widespread liquefaction and fire-following effects on low-resolution remotely sensed data. Damage sustained in urban environments has more recently been identified through visual coverage. For several years, a Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) team has been investigating the use of remote sensing technologies for earthquake damage detection and emergency response Research has focused on various aspects of damage detection, including: the distinction between extreme levels or states of damage versus non-damage; the quantification of damage states on a regional basis (Mansouri et al., 2002); and the assessment of damage sustained by individual buildings. The following paper describes methodological progress in the characterization of urban building damage using optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing imagery. Preliminary damage detection algorithms are introduced for the 1999 Marmara earthquake in Turkey, demonstrating the ability of advanced technologies to determine the scale of a disaster. A quantitative assessment is made of the magnitude and extent of building collapse in the city of Golcuk, which builds on reconnaissance information presented by Eguchi et al. (2000a) in a previous publication of MCEER research accomplishments (see also Eguchi et al., 2000b).