Building-damage detection using post-seismic high-resolution SAR satellite data

Radar satellite imagery was valuable in supporting extensive rescue operations after the Wenchuan Earthquake on 12 May 2008 due to its ability to operate independently of weather conditions, day and night. However, it is a challenging task to identify damaged or destroyed buildings using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The standard procedure for identifying damaged buildings is to use change detection by comparing post-seismic to pre-seismic images, but almost no archived high-resolution SAR images were available of the rather remote area damaged by the Wenchuan Earthquake. Building-damage assessment using only post-event SAR images was therefore necessary to assess the areas of damage. In this paper, theoretical assumptions about the appearance of collapsed buildings in high-resolution SAR images were drawn and verified with visual feature interpretations of real SAR images from the area.