HAITI EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT:
REVIEW OF THE REMOTE SENSING ROLE
P. Boccardo?, F. Giulio Tonolo ^ *
: * ITHACA, 10138 Torino, Italy - fabio. giuliotonolo@ithaca.polito.it
DIST, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy — piero.boccardo@polito.it
URSI and ISPRS: Disaster Management
KEY WORDS: Earthquake, Damage Assessment, Remote Sensing, Haiti
ABSTRACT:
Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010. The immediate response to the disaster was a real turning point
concerning the availability, dissemination and licensing of a huge quantity of geospatial data. Timely triggering of the Earth
Observation satellites, and absence of cloud cover, allowed to acquire very high-resolution optical satellite imagery (spatial
resolution up to 0.5m) over the main affected areas within a few hours of the disaster, while the whole country coverage was
completed in a very short time span. Furthermore in the following days aerial imagery, high resolution SAR radar imagery as well as
thermal and LiDAR data were widely acquired.
The paper will show how well established remote sensing techniques allowed to carry out earthquake damage assessment in a very
short time, exploiting the synergic capabilities of geospatial tools and instruments such as EO satellites, Web mapping, GIS software
and volunteer mapping,
In a few days several map products based on the aforementioned analysis were delivered to end users: a review of the different types
and purposes of this products will be provided and discussed. An
assessment of the thematic accuracy of remotely sensed based
products will be carried out on the basis of a review of the several available studies focused on this issue, including the main
outcomes of a validation based on a comparison with in-situ data performed by the authors.
1. 2010 HAITI EARTHQUAKE AND DISASTER
RESPONSE
On the 12th of January, 2010, Haiti was hit by a catastrophic
earthquake of magnitude 7.0 Mw, with an epicentre near the
town of Léogáne, approximately 25 km west of Port-au-Prince,
Haiti's capital. The earthquake caused major damage in Port-au-
Prince, Jacmel, Léogáne and other settlements in the region.
Amongst the widespread devastation and damage throughout
Port-au-Prince and elsewhere, vital infrastructures necessary to
respond to the disaster were destroyed or severely damaged.
Due to the enormous humanitarian impact, the Haiti earthquake
represented an exceptional case concerning the availability,
dissemination and licensing of a huge quantity of geospatial
data and it “will be viewed as one of the most widely recorded
events from the perspective of high resolution imagery" (Shan
et al, 2011)
International emergency mapping mechanisms such as the
International Charter for Space and Major Disasters and the
GMES related initiatives have been activated by authorized
users immediately after the event. At the same time a large
number of international organizations started mapping the
impact of the earthquake.
In a few days several impact and damage assessment map
products based on the analysis of remotely sensed datasets were
delivered to the users, and more generally to the humanitarian
community, confirming that rapid impact assessment after a
catastrophic event is crucial for initiating effective emergency
response actions.
* Corresponding author.
2. EMERGENCY MAPPING ACTIVITIES
As clearly highlighted in the Disaster Risk Management Cycle
the Emergency Response stage is generally composed by
different initiatives, such as the Search and Rescue (SAR)
operations, the re-establishment of main logistic routes, the
management, coordination and sharing of information, the
provision of humanitarian assistance and the initial damage and
need assessment.
The main goal of the map products delivered in the first days
after the event and based on satellite/aerial data was to provide
initial impact delineation and damage assessment information
such as: the location of the main affected areas, the magnitude
of the impact, estimated figures on the affected population and
accessibility information to support the logistics planning.
It has to be highlighted that the typical time constrains of the
response stage does not allow to produce a Detailed Damage
Assessment, that is generally carried out during the Recovery
activities in the framework of the Post Disaster Needs
Assessment (PDNA) related tasks.
2.1 Remote sensing data
The acquisition of field data supporting the immediate impact
assessment in areas hit by severe earthquakes is indeed a hard
task, mainly due to the restricted physical accessibility of the
affected areas (i.e. unpredictable road conditions, landslides and
soil fractures, lack of means of communications with the
affected population, panic, growing of diseases, lack of food
and water, hazards due to instable buildings). To cope with the
accessibility and time constraints issues, “the use of EQ (Earth
Observation) data in earthquake contexts, especially for damage
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