Breaking new ground for remote sensing in support of disaster relief efforts: Detecting and pinpointing earthquake damage in near real-time (El Salvador, January 2001)

Edmond Nezry; Paul P. Romeijn; Francesco Sarti; Jordi Inglada; Francis Zagolski; Francis Yakam-Simen

doi:10.1117/12.453680

23 January 2002 Breaking new ground for remote sensing in support of disaster relief efforts: Detecting and pinpointing earthquake damage in near real-time (El Salvador, January 2001)

Edmond Nezry, Paul P. Romeijn, Francesco Sarti, Jordi Inglada, Francis Zagolski, Francis Yakam-Simen

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4545, Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring, GIS Applications, and Geology; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.453680
Event: International Symposium on Remote Sensing, 2001, Toulouse, France

Abstract

On January 13th 2001, a very strong earthquake struck El-Salvador, causing almost 1000 deaths and huge destruction, leaving more than one million people homeless. As support to the rescue teams, a project was initiated to provide up-to date maps and to identify damages to housing and infrastructures, covering the whole country. Based on the analysis of SPOT Panchromatic satellite imagery, updated maps were delivered to the rescue teams within 72 hours after the earthquake. In addition, during the 10 days following the earthquake, high resolution mapping of the damages was carried out in cooperation and coordination with rescue teams and relief organizations. Some areas of particular interest were even processed and damage maps delivered through the Internet, three hours after the request. For the first time in the history of spaceborne Earth observation, identification and evaluation of the damages were delivered on-site, in real-time (during the interventions), to local authorities, rescue teams and humanitarian organizations. In this operation, operating 24 hours a day and technical ability were the keys for success and contributed to saving lives.

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Edmond Nezry, Paul P. Romeijn, Francesco Sarti, Jordi Inglada, Francis Zagolski, and Francis Yakam-Simen "Breaking new ground for remote sensing in support of disaster relief efforts: Detecting and pinpointing earthquake damage in near real-time (El Salvador, January 2001)", Proc. SPIE 4545, Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring, GIS Applications, and Geology, (23 January 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.453680

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