Eyes on Earth Episode 84 – Hurricane Disturbance Mapping

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Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

Summary: When disaster strikes, near-real-time images of its effects can be invaluable. In this episode, we learn about how a newly developed system using the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 dataset and artificial intelligence was put to the test when Hurricane Ian tore through Florida in late September 2022. By comparing pre-storm and post-storm imagery, the system quickly flagged anomalies statewide such as brightness, which could indicate exposed sand or bare land after a hurricane. Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 data is available through the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, or LP DAAC for short, located at EROS, which is also home to the entire Landsat archive.

Guest: Zhe Zhu, University of Connecticut’s Global Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory and Landsat Science Team

Host: Jane Lawson (contractor for USGS EROS)

Producer: Tom Adamson (contractor for USGS EROS)

Release date: Monday, November 21, 2022

More about disaster response satellite imagery:

• UCONN Disturbance Watcher
• Near-real-time monitoring of land disturbance with harmonized Landsats 7–8 and Sentinel-2 data
• International Charter Space and Major Disasters
• The International Charter: 20 Years of Disaster Monitoring