Social Impact through Satellite Remote Sensing – Visualizing Acute and Chronic Crises beyond the Visible Spectrum

Many successful remote sensing projects have focused exclusively on the visible spectrum - what one would see of they looked down from an airplane at the ground surface. Yet in order to discern objects or patterns of interest (buildings, markets, roads, vehicles, etc.), high spatial resolution remote sensing data are necessary. It's important to note up front, though, that two other types of data resolution are also critical in remotely sensing the Earth's surface: spectral resolution and temporal resolution. High spatial resolution remote sensing data have been utilized successfully in a number of recent disasters to rapidly and accurately map the developing situation on the ground during crises, such as earthquake, flood, landslide, and civil unrest events. Read More