ABSTRACT
Natural disasters are considered to be destined, but nowadays limited prevention and reduction approaches can be adopted due to a great deal of coordination. An effi cient action of disaster mitigation and rescue relies on timely and effective information about hazard areas. Unfortunately, natural disasters are often widespread and the devastated areas are sometimes unreachable so that an overall on-site investigation becomes diffi cult or even impossible. With the rapid technology development of space platform and digital imagery, remote sensing data have been broadly applied to monitoring the Earth’s surface in the last decades, such as agriculture monitoring [1,2], environmental change [3], and water pollution assessment [4-6]. Several studies applying remote sensing to natural hazard investigation and management were reviewed thereafter. Landsat5 TM images were applied to identify the neotectonic features of the September 7, 1999 Athens earthquake [7]. Gupta and Joshi [8] and Lin et al. [9,10] used remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) techniques in assessing landslides and debris fl ows. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration monitors droughts on a large area by developing an Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)–based Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) derived from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Temperature Condition Index (TCI) derived from the AVHRR-measured
radiances [11]. SPOT satellite images were used to analyze the NDVI for comparison and evaluation of the vegetation recovery rates before and after the Chi-Chi Earthquake [12]. Aerial photographs and SPOT satellite images were coupled to assess the damage level and potential risk of collapsed spots on the Tsao-Ling landslide caused by the Chi-Chi Earthquake [13]. A synthetic probability map of the Tsao-Ling landslide reoccurrence was produced that provided effi cient information for planning emergency response and making a rehabilitation strategy. Also, automated classifi cations were developed and applied to SPOT satellite images for the recognition of landslide hazards [14,15]. The integration of GIS, remote sensing, and global positioning system (GPS) can provide a low-cost and rapid methodology of disaster management as well as critical information for decision support by emergency managers and the disaster response community [16,17]. A decision support system (DSS) for open mining areas during the formulation of a restoration plan was developed by using thematic maps derived from observation data from Earth [18].
