ABSTRACT
Building a nuclear power plant on an active fault or building an oil pipeline across an active or potential landslide are examples of the types of activities leading to disasters that are all too common, yet may often be prevented with the careful use of remote sensing imagery as a first step in a hazard assessment. The construction of roads, pipelines, or facilities within river floodplains costs industry billions of dollars each year. Drilling wells or building roads on landslides, and building facilities or pipelines across faults or in areas of active subsidence are also costly and often avoidable.
