Abstract
This paper describes the evolution of recent work on using crowdsourced analysis of remote sensing imagery, particularly high-resolution aerial imagery, to provide rapid, reliable assessments of damage caused by earthquakes and potentially other disasters. The initial effort examined online imagery taken after the 2008 Wenchuan, China, earthquake. A more recent response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake led to the formation of an international consortium: the Global Earth Observation Catastrophe Assessment Network (GEO-CAN). The success of GEO-CAN in contributing to the official damage assessments made by the Government of Haiti, the United Nations, and the World Bank led to further development of a web-based interface. A current initiative in Christchurch, New Zealand, is underway where remote sensing experts are analyzing satellite imagery, geotechnical engineers are marking liquefaction areas, and structural engineers are identifying building damage. The current site includes online training to improve the accuracy of the assessments and make it possible for even novice users to contribute to the crowdsourced solution. The paper discusses lessons learned from these initiatives and presents a way forward for using crowdsourced remote sensing as a tool for rapid assessment of damage caused by natural disasters around the world.
Highlights
This paper describes the evolution of recent work on using crowdsourced analysis of remote sensing imagery, high-resolution aerial imagery, to provide rapid, reliable assessments of damage caused by earthquakes and potentially other disasters
The crowdsourcing application should strive to be engaging in order to attract a meaningful number of users and to encourage them to produce accurate contributions
Working within a specially designed online tool developed in MS Virtual Earth, dozens of earthquake experts were assigned specific areas or ‘tiles’ of the affected area to review and provide damage assessment by comparing before-and-after high-resolution satellite images acquired by DigitalGlobe and Geoeye imagery companies
Summary
This paper describes the evolution of recent work on using crowdsourced analysis of remote sensing imagery, high-resolution aerial imagery, to provide rapid, reliable assessments of damage caused by earthquakes and potentially other disasters. Working within a specially designed online tool developed in MS Virtual Earth, dozens of earthquake experts were assigned specific areas or ‘tiles’ of the affected area (the city of Ying Xiu) to review and provide damage assessment by comparing before-and-after high-resolution satellite images acquired by DigitalGlobe and Geoeye imagery companies.
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