Banchini, Giovanni 
  
  
Figure 1 Example of the 1:10 000 scale digital orthophoto of the Sarno area developed from the 11 000m 
b/w aerial photographic coverage of Italy of 1994. This image constitutes the best documentation of the 
area before the disastrous slide event of May 1998 
The documentation for the first post event activities represents the crucial product for disaster recovery. The 
most urgent interventions require that the area involved in the disaster be covered photogrammetrically in the shortest 
possible time. In emergencies the standard operating procedures of photogrammetric surveys regarding the choice of 
season and atmospheric conditions that best fit light’s angle and vegetational cover may not be met. At the same time 
the direct use of the aerial photos is hampered by the lack of metric constancy and the difficulty of photointerpretation 
by those not professionally equipped to do it. The color orthophoto overcomes these difficulties and presents itself as 
  
110 International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000.