Automatic Information Retrieval from Meter and Sub-Meter Resolution Satellite Image Data in Support to Crisis Management

Abstract This paper reports about the recent-years experiences of using meter and sub-meter satellite image data in support to the crisis management activities carried out by the European Commission and international partners as World Bank and UN agencies. These activities are focused on the monitoring, reporting, modeling, and forecasting of the effects or the impact of the natural disasters and conflict-related crisis on population and the socio-economic assets. The information about human settlement with different characterization (formal/informal, stable/temporary, developed/slum, etc), specific vulnerability, and eventually post-crisis damage and reconstruction changes, are extracted from meter and sub-meter satellite image data and used in the policy-making process. The point of view emphasized in this paper is related to the lessons learned about the automatic information extraction from meter and sub-meter satellite image data in real crisis scenarios, including the typical constraints of this application field. Technical-scientific and conceptual gaps are reported and some ways forward are suggested, including examples extracted from recent crisis where EC JRC was involved. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations are drafted with the goal of contributing to an effective methodological development of automatic image information extraction in support to crisis management.JRC.DG.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen