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Satellite Image Analysis for Disaster and Crisis-Management Support

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DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2007.895830 · Source: DBLP

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1520 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 45, NO. 6, JUNE 2007

Satellite Image Analysis for Disaster

and Crisis-Management Support
Stefan Voigt, Thomas Kemper, Torsten Riedlinger, Ralph Kiefl, Klaas Scholte, and Harald Mehl

Abstract—This paper describes how multisource satellite data event has improved substantially. There are several factors
and efficient image analysis may successfully be used to con- which have lead to this fact. First of all, ground pixel spacing
duct rapid-mapping tasks in the domain of disaster and crisis- of civil Earth-observation systems has developed to the meter
management support. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has
set up a dedicated crosscutting service, which is the so-called domain for optical and radar systems and to the decameter
“Center for satellite-based Crisis Information” (ZKI), to facil- domain for thermal imaging satellites. Second, during the
itate the use of its Earth-observation capacities in the service 1990s, communication, networking, and interoperability among
of national and international response to major disaster situa- the different satellite systems have improved substantially to
tions, humanitarian relief efforts, and civil security issues. This facilitate international satellite-based disaster-response capac-
paper describes successful rapid satellite mapping campaigns
supporting disaster relief and demonstrates how this technology ities. Third, through a number of international scientific and
can be used for civilian crisis-management purposes. During the technical coordination bodies, international cooperation mech-
last years, various international coordination bodies were estab- anisms were established, such as the Disaster Management
lished, improving the disaster-response-related cooperation within Support Group (DMSG) of the International Committee on
the Earth-observation community worldwide. DLR/ZKI operates Earth Observing Satellites or the International Charter Space
in this context, closely networking with public authorities (civil
security), nongovernmental organizations (humanitarian relief and Major Disasters. The main task of the DMSG is to per-
organizations), satellite operators, and other space agencies. This ceive the specifications, basic observations, and monitoring
paper reflects on several of these international activities, such as requirements of current and future observing systems fully or
the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, describes partially dedicated to disaster management tasks. Based on con-
mapping procedures, and reports on rapid-mapping experiences clusions of the DMSG [1] and the UNISPACE III conference,
gained during various disaster-response applications. The example
cases presented cover rapid impact assessment after the Indian the International Charter Space and Major Disasters [2], from
Ocean Tsunami, forest fires mapping for Portugal, earthquake- here onwards referred to as International Charter, was founded
damage assessment for Pakistan, and landslide extent mapping in 1999. Since this time, the International Charter has been
for the Philippines. providing a crucial mechanism for globally coordinated disaster
Index Terms—Crisis information, disaster monitoring, rapid response by civilian governmental satellite operators and space
mapping, risk management, satellite remote sensing. agencies for natural and man-made disasters.
Currently, the International Charter is operated by a num-
I. I NTRODUCTION ber of space agencies (Table I) and has been activated over
100 times (July 2006, [2]), providing meaningful mapping and

I N RECENT years, satellite systems and image-analysis

techniques have developed to an extent where civil and
commercial Earth-observation instruments can contribute sig-
analysis products to the civil-protection and relief organizations
at appropriate scale in time and space. Taking into account
the increasing rate of natural and technological disaster situa-
nificantly to support the management of major technical and tions affecting human activities on this planet, the International
natural disasters, as well as humanitarian crisis situations. Com- Charter still bares potential for extension and improvement.
paring today’s availability of satellite imagery to the situation First of all, the commitment to provide only plain satellite
about ten years ago, the amount, timeliness, and availability of imagery, rather than analysis results, should be extended to also
satellite imagery covering a certain crisis situation or disaster formally committing the provision of ready to use information
products (maps) applicable in the domain of humanitarian
and natural crisis situations. Second, the speed of data and
Manuscript received February 26, 2006; revised December 27, 2006. This information delivery may still be improved in the context of
work was supported in part by the research and development grants of the the Charter, as natural, humanitarian or technical disaster often
German Aerospace Agency (DLR), by the project funds of the Global Mon- cannot be predicted in space and time and thus requires max-
itoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program of the European Space
Agency, namely the RESPOND and RISK-EOS projects, and by research imum responsiveness to maximize mitigation efforts. Third,
funding granted within the 6th Research Framework Program of the European the actors in the domain of satellite-based response to civilian
Commission for the Network of Excellence “Global Monitoring for Stability crisis and disaster situations may improve their mutual coordi-
and Security” (GMOSS).
The authors are with the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), nation and cooperation to allow best use of existing systems
German Aerospace Center (DLR) at Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, and mechanisms and to exploit their synergistic potential to
Germany (e-mail: [email protected]). the maximum level possible. Such coordination shall address
Color versions of one or more figures in this paper are available online at
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. technical and organizational matters, as well as information
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TGRS.2007.895830 sharing or capacity building.

0196-2892/$25.00 © 2007 IEEE

VOIGT et al.: SATELLITE IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR DISASTER AND CRISIS-MANAGEMENT SUPPORT 1521

TABLE I
OVERVIEW OF SPACE AGENCIES AND SPACE RESOURCES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHARTER

After several years of research and development in the imagery allowed nonexperts in many situations to read informa-
domain using satellite systems for civilian crisis and disaster tion intuitively from the carefully processed imagery itself or to
response, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has set up a allow the analysts to generate fast and easy-to-read space maps
dedicated crosscutting service, the Center for satellite-based showing location, situation, scale, or extent of a given disaster
Crisis Information (ZKI), to combine and facilitate the use of or crisis situation. In spite of these crucial developments in the
its Earth-observation capacities in the service of national and domain of satellite imagery provision, it is important to note
international response to major disaster situations, humanitar- that no decision maker or relief worker can work with raw
ian relief efforts, or civil security issues. The aim of this paper satellite imagery—it always takes a very careful processing,
is to describe and discuss the assessment of multiple satellite analysis, mapping, and interpretation process to generate the
data sources, the crisis support service cycle, the multisource required situation maps, reports, or statistics which can be
image analysis, and adding of the geospatial context to satellite read and understood by nonsatellite expert users. It has to be
information in order to rapidly supply self-explaining geospa- mentioned that the International Charter still has quite some
tial information products for disaster and crisis-management shortcomings in this respect as it formally only commits to
support. provide raw satellite imagery to the users. All analysis and
value adding work has to be conducted in other frame works
and contexts such as described next.
II. A CCESSING M ULTIPLE S ATELLITE D ATA S OURCES
Maps, geospatial information, and thematic analysis derived III. C RISIS S UPPORT S ERVICE C YCLE
from satellite imagery can support decision making and situa- In order to process the full cycle, from an emergency call
tion awareness during all phases of the disaster and crisis cycle. or request for assistance, through satellite tasking, data ac-
This is defined through preparedness, alertness, rapid analy- quisition, analysis, map provision, and interpretation, one has
sis, response, recovery, and reconstruction [3]. In particular, to go through a chain of various steps involving coordination
during the analysis, response, and recovery phase, only very of satellite commanding and data reception tasks, as well as
fast delivery of up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive image- data ingestion, preprocessing, correction, and analysis. Just as
analysis products can significantly help in the assessment of important as the data processing and delivery is the close con-
large disaster situations, in particular in remote areas, where tact and interaction with the key actors in the user community
other means of assessment or mapping either fail or are of (Fig. 1) [4].
insufficient quality. Before the formation of the International Experience over the past years has shown that neither sophis-
Charter, it was mainly by chance or in very special cases where ticated image analysis and processing nor mapping capacities
programming, access, delivery, and analysis of civil satellite or geographic information system (GIS) skills alone allow
imagery was fast enough so that a response time of hours or providing a meaningful disaster-related information service to
a few days was reached and allowed a proper use for relief- crisis response staff and within operational scenarios. Only if
work purposes. Only with the installation of the International it is possible to operate the whole crisis support service cycle,
Charter, a globally functioning mechanism was established linking Earth-observation systems, information extraction, and
to coordinate the tasking of multiple satellites and archiving dissemination with specifically trained decision makers, or field
systems in very short time, without hindering formalities. staff of the relief organizations without interrupt, space-based
Hence, a meaningful satellite observation information capacity crisis mapping can have a positive impact on disaster-relief
was established for a variety of nonexpert users such as civil operations.
protection, humanitarian relief workers, and donor/funding
organizations.
IV. M ULTISOURCE I MAGE A NALYSIS
Shortly after the International Charter was introduced, very
high resolution (VHR) commercial satellite imaging in the Satellite image analysis for disaster and crisis-management
1-m domain became publicly available. Also, this 1-m domain support has to rely on whatever geoinformation is available
1522 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 45, NO. 6, JUNE 2007

source for flood events [6], [10], oil spills [11], landslides, and
earthquakes [12], particularly when postevent imagery can be
jointly analyzed with archived reference imagery for change
detection or interferometric coherence or displacement mea-
surements. The German TerraSAR-X System and the Italian
Cosmo-Skymed, which are to be launched in 2007, will extend
the civilian SAR availability to the 1-m domain, allowing VHR
all weather image acquisitions.
For many disaster-related image analysis and mapping tasks,
the availability of appropriate and accurate topographic eleva-
tion data on the affected area is of uttermost importance. Thus,
interferometrically derived digital elevation models (DEMs),
such as which resulted from the Shuttle Radar Topogra-
phy Mission (SRTM) [13], are of very high value for im-
age processing (e.g., orthorectification) and map generation
(e.g., hillshading).

Fig. 1. DLR-ZKI service cycle. ZKI touches both the space segment and V. A DDING THE G EOSPATIAL C ONTEXT
decision-maker cycles, and due to this interlinking network, it is possible to
provide optimal service delivery to its users. It is evident that satellite-derived information alone does not
fast in order to respond as quickly as possible. Moreover, suffice to generate a meaningful analysis of a given disaster
for each disaster type, different data and analysis techniques situation. Experiences gathered during the work with relief
are required. Consequently, a wide expertise and capacity for organizations show that it is an absolute key to fuse the satellite-
various types of data is essential. The most important data based information with additional data to present it in a proper
sources are VHR optical data, thermal imagery, and synthetic geospatial context. Thus, in addition to the expertise in image
aperture radar (SAR) systems. analysis, an equally important task is the generation of compre-
Optical data are of great importance for disaster management hensive and easy-to-use map products. For this purpose, refer-
support such as planning the logistics of relief actions in the ence data sets such as place names, road network, rivers, critical
field immediately after, for example, an earthquake or tsunami infrastructure, and topographic information are required.
[5]. One major advantage of VHR optical data is that their The most crucial problem is the availability and the access to
interpretation is also intuitive for nonexperts. For example, a accurate and up-to-date spatial data, particularly in remote re-
map at scale 1 : 7500 using predisaster VHR imagery gives the gions. The benefits of interoperable spatial data infrastructures
aid workers in the field an overview of the predisaster building (SDI) for data access and dissemination in the framework of
structure. Such information is highly valuable to search and disaster response are already demonstrated [14]. This promising
rescue operations, as well as for reconstruction planning after approach implies that different organizations provide the data
earthquakes. that they are responsible for by web-based systems. However,
The thermal imagery offers excellent possibilities for map- up to the present, only few countries established and operate
ping of hot spots caused by wild fires. Operational wild- an SDI; this is particularly the case for Africa and the Asian-
fire-detection systems using Advanced Very High Resolution Pacific countries due to technical or legal constraints [15].
Radiometer (AVHRR) data have been developed for use in Therefore, there is still a gap in the availability, particularly of
Canada [6] and Finland [7], among other countries. Thermal local-scale geodata.
satellite data can give an overview information about the ex- Fast and easy accessible global data sets such VMap [16]
tent and the number of actually burning fires due to the fact are often not accurate enough for a high-resolution mapping.
that the sensors of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Hence, high-resolution data sets on infrastructure and settle-
Administration (NOAA) AVHRR and Moderate Resolution ment boundaries have to be derived by visual interpretation
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are sensitive to fires that of satellite imagery. Global gazetteers such as the GEOnet
are much smaller than their spatial resolution [8]. In partic- Names Server [17] can be used for labeling settlements and
ular, the MODIS sensor is also useful for large-scale flood physiographical features like rivers and mountains. For a rough
monitoring [9]. estimation of the population affected by a disaster, the Land-
Although most of the commercial or research Earth- Scan database [18] gives a good representation of rural and
observation satellite systems are optical/thermal systems, the urban population densities. A combination of interferometri-
SAR systems onboard European Remote Sensing satellites cally derived DEMs from SRTM X- and C-band, ERS, and
(ERS), Radarsat, ENVISAT, or the Advanced Land Observing GLOBE 30-arcsecond data [19] provides a global basis for the
Satellite (ALOS) are of great value for the fast response map- derivation of contour lines as an adequate representation of the
ping and analysis tasks as they allow imaging at wavelengths topography.
almost unaffected by atmospheric disturbances such as rain Generally, the map-generation process consists of different
or cloud. Although radar imagery is somewhat less intuitive steps: integration of spatial data, data analysis, layout, quality
to be interpreted by nonexperts, they resemble a very useful control, map editing, and dissemination, as well as possible
VOIGT et al.: SATELLITE IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR DISASTER AND CRISIS-MANAGEMENT SUPPORT 1523

Fig. 2. High-resolution satellite map from new and archived satellite imagery of the northern Khao Lak Region, Thailand (1 : 12.500). The archived predisaster
and new acquired postdisaster satellite images allow easy and quantitative damage assessment by visual change detection. Tsunami-affected areas are delinated
using a red polygon signature, and in blue, the coastline before the tsunami is indicated.

updating of the map. The following section will show some A. Impact Assessment for the Indian Ocean Tsunami
examples and in more detail how the rapid mapping can suc-
In the early morning of December 26, 2004, a severe earth-
cessfully be accomplished.
quake (30 km below sea level, magnitude 9) caused Tsunami
flood waves in the Indian Ocean, which struck the coastal
VI. E XAMPLES FOR A PPLYING S ATELLITE -B ASED
regions of Sumatra, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and southern India,
I NFORMATION IN D ISASTER R ELIEF
and killed more than 200 000 people. Due to the immense
Going back only for the last two years, several outstanding extent of the affected coastal areas, the International Charter
examples can be given where satellite-based maps could pro- was triggered three times for India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia/
vide information supporting international humanitarian relief Thailand. After consultation and coordination with various
teams or domestic disaster-relief operations in very fast and international partners, DLR/ZKI concentrated its activities on
efficient ways. Four of the most prominent internationally Thailand and Indonesia. Until postdisaster imagery became
relevant application examples, on which DLR/ZKI has worked, available, reference maps using archived satellite data were
are described in the following section and cover disaster produced giving first basic information about the affected areas.
situations in the following geographic regions: Southeast Asia These archived satellite data from the global land-cover facility
(Tsunami), Portugal (fire hot spots), Pakistan (earthquake), [20] were combined with geospatial information.
and the Philippines (landslide). It is important to note that The first postdisaster images of Sumatra were delivered on
the following examples of satellite imagery application for December 29, 2006, three days after the disaster. Due to the
disaster relief intend to showcase swift and synergistic use of scale of the damage, both medium [Landsat-7 Enhanced The-
state-of-the-art processing techniques and rapid data access. matic Mapper (ETM), SPOT, disaster monitoring constellation
These rapid-mapping results could be achieved by building on (DMC)] and very high-resolution imageries (IKONOS, Quick-
existing scientific results and long-term engineering experience bird) were used for quantitative damage assessment mainly
in the domain of satellite data processing. It is not indented to by means of visual change detection (Fig. 2). This up-to-date
report major generic methodological research results or method mapping, covering large parts of the affected area, enabled
comparison here. disaster managers to achieve an overview of the situation, to
1524 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 45, NO. 6, JUNE 2007

Fig. 3. Satellite map of the Serra do Estrela, Portugal (1 : 50.000). The image shows in red the area that burned until August 25, 2005, where the different colored
circles denote the MODIS-derived hot spots between August 14 (dark red), August 16 (red), August 17 (orange), and August 21 (yellow), allowing a detail tracing
of the fire propagation.

assess the damage, and to supply local logistic teams with Castelo. After a request of the Portuguese fire-fighting service,
reliable information on a short notice. ZKI provided this ser- the International Charter was triggered, and the burned area was
vice in cooperation with its partners in the Global Monitor- mapped using SPOT, Landsat-7 ETM, DMC, and IKONOS.
ing for Environment and Security/RESPOND consortium and The burned area was mapped from visual image comparison
followed requests of the crisis reaction team of Germany’s of pre- and postdisaster data, as it proofed to be faster and more
Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), the joint federal accurate than automated classification tools. Due to the large
situation and information center, the German technical relief areas that were affected, medium resolution satellites such as
agency, the German Red Cross, and Medicines Sans Frontiers. SPOT-5, Landsat-7 ETM, and DMC proofed to be more ad-
The products were also provided to a wide international user vantageous over the very high-resolution IKONOS data, which
community, as well as the press and the public via the Internet. were used only for the affected urban areas.
In parallel, the situation was monitored using the sensors
NOAA-AVHRR 17 and MODIS Aqua and Terra for the de-
B. Providing an Overview on Forest Fires in Portugal
tection of fire hot spots. Near-real time hot-spot detection for
In the Mediterranean, each summer, natural- and human- the Mediterranean is achieved at DLR through an inhouse
induced wildfires are a threat not only to the environment but reception of NOAA AVHRR and MODIS data and direct
also to the local population. In the year 2005, after one of the processing. This processing chain is based on the adapted
most severe droughts over the Iberian Peninsula, the wildfires APOLLO tool for NOAA AVHRR [21] and the enhanced
were raging out of control across central and northern Portugal, MODIS fire detection developed by [22]. The value-added
killing 15 people and destroying more than 150 000 ha of product was delivered daily, 2 to 5 h after the satellite over-
agricultural land and urban area. pass via the Internet and for direct integration into GISs
The worst-hit areas included the central region of Portugal, of the civil-protection units. This continuous monitoring al-
where fires were threatening the outskirts of Coimbra, which lowed a detailed tracing of the fire propagation and a better
is the third largest city of the country. Wildfires were also con- planning of fire-fighting capacities by the Portuguese civil
tinuing to burn in the northern districts of Viseu and Viana do protection (Fig. 3).
VOIGT et al.: SATELLITE IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR DISASTER AND CRISIS-MANAGEMENT SUPPORT 1525

Fig. 4. Damage assessment for the northern Muzaffarabad city area, Muzaffarabad District, Pakistan (1 : 7500). Visual interpretation on pre- and postdisaster
images with 250 × 250 m grid cells is applied to interpret damage to infrastructure and build-up areas by means of UN housing damage classification: no damage,
moderately damage (< 33%), severely damage (33%–66%), and completely destroyed (> 66%). Semitransparent color map overlay is used to visualize damages,
and blue-colored grid cells show those areas with moderate (light blue) to high (dark blue) damage to infrastructure, whereas the orange- and red-colored grid
cells show damage to build-up areas.

C. Earthquake Relief Support for Pakistan

plications of change analysis [5]. However, standard change
A series of severe earthquakes (maximum magnitude of 7.6) analyses are not always suitable for VHR, e.g., object-based
struck the Kashmir region on Saturday October 8, 2005. The classification is very time demanding (up to 30 h or more)
epicenter was located on the India–Pakistan border, which is and not as straightforward as the more conventional Bayesian
about 100-km northeast of Islamabad, and Pakistani authori- methods. Change analysis using polygons of varying size and
ties reported some 49 700 casualties and over 74 000 injured. type is a very time-consuming approach, as the identification
On October 11, which is two days after activation of the of homogeneous image sections is a very difficult and time-
International Charter, DLR produced several detailed maps consuming task. SAR imagery may be used for assessing
(1 : 7500) of a number of cities in the earthquake-affected damages to houses and buildings [28]; however, depending
region, which are derived from very high-resolution IKONOS on the type of damage and the type of structures affected,
imagery. Typical image preprocessing for such rapid-mapping results may also be limited. Another common approach is to
services includes atmospheric corrections [23], orthorectifica- visualize change analysis through color coding by means of the
tion [24], pansharpening [25], filtering, contrast enhancements, predisaster image, e.g., in green, and the postdisaster image,
and visualization. e.g., in red. Hence, an image combination by superimposing
The positional accuracy of uncorrected VHR imagery is poor the different colors (color additive mixing process) will then
in mountainous areas such as the Kashmir region, and therefore, reveal unchanged properties in yellow. This method requires
VHR imagery requires orthorectification before application very accurate image coregistration and does not allow intuitive
in high-resolution earthquake-damage (change) mapping. The reading by the user.
initial positional accuracy of about 300 to 1000 m, which Therefore, a new damage-assessment method was tested for
was acquired with 15◦ –30◦ off-nadir viewing angles [26], the city of Muzaffarabad (Fig. 4) using visual interpretation on
was improved to about 3–5 m to meet the CE90 accuracy pre- and postdisaster images with 250 × 250 m grid cells. This
requirement [27]. method, which was proposed by the European Joint Research
However, since rapid mapping often places very difficult time Center team working on the satellite-based disaster-response
constraints on production, time-consuming processes such as a efforts, interprets damage to infrastructure and build-up areas
full sophisticated atmospheric correction [23] are only applied for each grid cell by means of the UN housing damage classifi-
when crucial for the image analysis and interpretation process. cation [29]: no damage, moderately damage (< 33%), severely
This is because the emphasis in rapid mapping is primarily damage (33%–66%), and completely destroyed (> 66%). The
on visual interpretation rather than on automated extraction of method uses semitransparent color map overlay to visualize
quantified environmental variables. damages (Fig. 4) where blue-colored grid cells show those
Damage assessment is an important task within the frame- areas with moderate (light blue) to high (dark blue) damage to
work of rapid mapping, and there are almost unlimited ap- infrastructure whereas the orange- and red-colored grid cells
1526 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 45, NO. 6, JUNE 2007

Fig. 5. Crisis map at a scale of 1 : 25 000 of the landslide-affected area around Guinsaugon, Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte Island, Philippines. The backdrop
image shows a predisaster SPOT5 image, and the landslide extent was derived from a number of different sensors: Radarsat, ASAR, and ALOS AVNIR-2.

show damage to build-up areas. If enough time is available, enhancement such as stretching and filtering. VMAP level 0
map overlay with critical infrastructure information (bridges, yielded input as the main gazetteer information source, whereas
airports, tunnels, ports, hospitals, clinics, and schools) should Google Earth and Microsoft Encarta provided additional infor-
be generated. mation where the VMAP data were missing or inaccurate.
According to the users’ feedback, the maps and layers The landslide extent was derived and crosschecked from
(streets, damage, etc.) yield vital information with respect to a number of different satellite sensors: Radarsat, Advanced
evacuation planning, general “pathfinding/tracking,” to get a Synthetic Apperture Radar (ASAR), and ALOS Advanced
better overview and understanding of problems on site. In Visible and Near-Infrared Radiometer (AVNIR)-2. Geocoding
addition, the maps proved very useful for negotiations about of the radar imagery is carried out using a geocoding system
logistics and joint operation among relief organizations in the developed by DLR [32]–[34], which supports Envisat-ASAR,
field. ERS, J-ERS, Radarsat-1, SIR-C / X-SAR, and TerraSAR-X.
The pixel spacing of the in- and output data, as well as the
Doppler reference function, are parameterized and are stored in
D. Mapping a Devastating Landslide in the Philippines
configuration files used by the system. The geocoding product
On Friday, February 17, 2006, a landslide triggered by is “enhanced” ellipsoid corrected, which means that the product
heavy rains buried the village of Guinsaugon, Saint Bernard, is projected and resampled to UTM using WGS-84 geodetic
Southern Leyte Island, Philippines. Most of the approximately reference, and terrain-induced distortions are corrected
300 houses and the elementary school were fully covered by considering a DEM. The geometric quality of the product is
the mudslide, affecting the 1411 village inhabitants (including good, due to the height accuracy and resolution of the used
246 elementary school pupils and 7 teachers) at the time of the SRTM (C-band and X-SAR), ERS-derived elevation models,
incident. and the GLOBE elevation information, in combination with
The crisis map at a scale of 1 : 25 000 of the landslide- the type of terrain and the incidence angle. Even though most
affected area uses a predisaster SPOT5 image, which was SAR processors refer to zero Doppler, the geocoding system
acquired on June 1, 2003, as image backdrop. Image process- is able to consider other reference functions. Multipolarized
ing carried out includes atmospheric correction [23] and the data are considered as multilayer images. Hence, the landslide
generation of a synthetic blue channel (to provide a true color extent was derived by means of on-screen digitizing.
image to the map users), orthorectification by means of direct The ALOS imagery from the Japanese Aerospace Explo-
georeferencing of SPOT HRS stereo data [30], [31], and image ration Agency, which was launched on January 24, 2006,
VOIGT et al.: SATELLITE IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR DISASTER AND CRISIS-MANAGEMENT SUPPORT 1527

yielded optical data input; however, the sensor only partially Available: http://www.unisdr.org/eng/library/lib-terminology-eng%
imaged the landslide due to partially cloudy weather situation. 20home.htm
[4] S. Voigt, T. Riedlinger, P. Reinartz, C. Künzer, R. Kiefl, T. Kemper, and
Hence, accurate geocoding using the SPOT reference scene was H. Mehl, Geo-Information for Disaster Management. Berlin, Germany:
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reaches: A strategy for MODIS-based river monitoring,” in Proc. 9th Int.
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antee fast and reliably image access on archive or new postevent pp. 479–485.
imagery. Thus, effective and well-balanced coordination among [10] P. A. Townsend and J. R. Foster, “Assessing flooding and vegetation
structure in forested wetlands using Radarsat SAR imagery,” in Proc.
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[27] C. H. Davis and X. Wang, “Planimetric accuracy of IKONOS 1 m Torsten Riedlinger received the M.Sc. degree in
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4288, Nov. 2003. From 2000 to 2003, he had a Ph.D. scholarship
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and C. Louvrier, “Standardized damage assessments and reporting—A mote Sensing Data Center of the German Aerospace
methodology that combines field data and satellite data analysis for Center (DLR), Wessling, Germany, including remote
improved damage reporting,” EUR. Rep. 22223 EN, European sensing and geographic information system analysis,
Communities, 2006. as well as national and international coordination, related to man-made and
[30] P. Reinartz, R. Müller, M. Lehner, and M. Schroeder, “Accuracy analysis natural disasters, humanitarian relief, and civil security. Furthermore, he is
for DSM and orthoimages derived from SPOT HRS stereo data using responsible for DLR’s project management within the International Charter
direct georeferencing,” ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens., vol. 60, on Space and Major Disasters, and he is Project Manager for the German
no. 3, pp. 160–169, May 2006. Contribution to the Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System.
[31] R. Müller, G. Palubinskas, P. Reinarrtz, and M. Schroeder, “From airborne
digital raw data to image maps,” PFG Photogrammetrie, Fernerkundung,
Geoinformation, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 317–326, 2003. Ralph Kiefl received the Diploma degree in physical
[32] A. Roth, D. Kosmann, M. Matschke, B. Müschen, and H. John, “Experi- geography, with a major in geographic information
ences in multi-sensoral SAR geocoding,” in Proc. IGARSS, Lincoln, NE, systems (GIS), from Johannes Gutenberg-University,
1996, pp. 2338–2340. Mainz, Germany, in 2002.
[33] A. Roth, M. Huber, and D. Kosmann, “Geocoding of TerraSAR-X Data,” Since April 2002, he has been working at the
in Proc. 20th Int. Congr. ISPRS, Istanbul, Turkey, 2004, pp. 840–844. German Remote Sensing Data Center of the German
[34] D. Kosmann, M. Huber, M. Bollner, A. Roth, H. Raggam, and D. Small, Aerospace Center, Wessling, in projects for land-
“Value added geocoded ENVISAT-ASAR product service,” in Proc. cover classification. Since autumn 2003, his main
ENVISAT/ERS Symp., Salzburg, Austria, Sep. 6–10, 2004, [CD-ROM]. task has been the application of desktop and web-
based GIS in the context of satellite-based crisis
information.

Klaas Scholte received the M.Sc. degree in physical

Stefan Voigt received the M.Sc. degree in physi-
geography from Utrecht University, Utrecht, The
cal geography, physics, and remote sensing
Netherlands, in 1998, and the Ph.D. degree, focus-
from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, München,
ing on geologic applications by using hyperspectral
Germany, in 1997, and the Ph.D. degree, working
remote sensing, InSAR, and geophysical methods,
on a European Commission research project on the
from the Delft University of Technology, Delft, The
remote sensing and runoff/flood forecasting, from
Netherlands, in 2005.
Berne University, Berne, Switzerland, in 2000. He worked for two years with the International
Since then, he has been with the German Re-
Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Ob-
mote Sensing Data Center (DFD) of the German
servation, The Netherlands, and JRC-Ispra, Italy,
Aerospace Center (DLR), Wessling, leading a
on remote sensing methods for desertification and
research team on “Crisis Information and Rapid vegetation monitoring. Since the autumn of 2005, he has been working with
Mapping.” Furthermore, he is in charge of the scientific and operational
the German Remote Sensing Data Center of the German Aerospace Center,
coordination of the DLR/DFD’s Center for satellite-based Crisis Information
Wessling, in the context of the European Space Agency Global Monitoring
(ZKI) which is contributing to several national and international activities
for Environment and Security Service Element RESPOND on satellite-based
and projects in the field of disaster mitigation, humanitarian relief, as well as information for humanitarian relief.
civil security. Since 2001, he has been coordinating an international research
initiative on innovative technologies for detection prevention and monitoring
uncontrolled of coal seam fires in China.
Harald Mehl received the Diploma degree in ge-
ography and the Ph.D. (Dr. rer nat) degree in re-
mote sensing from Ludwig-Maximilians-University
of Munich, Munich, Germany, in 1988 and 1991,
respectively.
Thomas Kemper was born in Wickede, Germany, in He was a Senior Scientist with the Working Group
1969. He received the degree in physical geography Remote Sensing at the Institute for Applied Geology
and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Trier, of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich:
Trier, Germany, for his work on quantification of organization and realization of research projects in
heavy metals in soils using reflectance spectroscopy, Latin America and South East Asia, in 1992–1996.
in 1997 and 2003, respectively. In 1996–1998, he was Head of the Executive Office
From 1998 to 2004, he was with the Institute for of German Aerospace Center Organization and Management. Since 1999, he
Environment and Sustainability of the Joint Research has been Head of the Unit Environment and Security of the German Remote
Centre (JRC) in the context of soil degradation and Sensing Data Center, Wessling, Germany: Management of the unit and defini-
desertification. He joined the German Remote Sens- tion of new application areas. His profile includes the following: Specialist in
ing Data Center of the German Aerospace Center in remote sensing, geographic information system, geography, geology, and land
October 2004 and is currently working in the Center for satellite-based Crisis use, and Education Generalist in agriculture, forestry, soil science, cartography,
Information, Wessling, Germany. and hazards.

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