International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XXXIX-B4, 2012 
XXII ISPRS Congress, 25 August - 01 September 2012, Melbourne, Australia 
529 
HAITI EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT: 
REVIEW OF THE REMOTE SENSING ROLE 
P. Boccardo\ F. Giulio Tondo a ’ * 
a ITHACA, 10138 Torino, Italy - fabio.giuliotonolo@ithaca.polito.it 
b 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 Léogâne, approximately 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, 
Haiti's capital. The earthquake caused major damage in Port-au- 
Prince, Jacmel, Léogâne 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. 
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 satcllite/acrial 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 EO (Earth 
Observation) data in earthquake contexts, especially for damage 
* Corresponding author.