Monitoring natural disasters through multiple satellite data

Abstract

Abstract Monitoring of natural disasters with satellite data is extremely difficult due to long recurrent period of satellite passages and also due to cloud cover conditions. Subsequently, utilization of multiple satellite data is inevitable in monitoring of natural disasters. Taking advantage of the data of several satellites such as Landsat, MOS-1 and SPOT, an attempt is made to monitor changing processes of natural conditions affected by the eruption which took place in Miyakejima Island in 1983. Common methods for geometric correction, resampling and relative radiometric modifications to the available multiple satellite data were applied in reference to a selected satellite data as standard one so as to enable the analyses on a common ground. The state of forest damage due to volcanic eruption and its recovery at each time lapse of received satellite data were compared in effective single band images, Vegetation Index images and their changes in many sample areas. The results obtained indicate clear changing features of the forest damage and recovery conditions as a whole, and also the effectiveness of utilizing multiple satellite data in disaster monitoring.