Applications of Active Remote Sensing Technologies for Natural Disaster Damage Assessments

Immediately following a natural disaster, it is imperative to accurately assess the damages caused by the disaster for effective rescue and relief operations. Passive remote sensing imageries have been analyzed and used for over four decades for such assessments. However, they do have their limitations including inability to collect data during violent weather conditions, medium to low spatial resolution, and assessing areas and pixels on a damages/no damage basis. Recent advances in active remote sensing data collection methods can resolve some of these limitations. In this chapter, the basic theories and processing techniques of active remote sensing data is first discussed. It then provides some of the advantages and limitations of using active remote sensing data for disaster damage assessments. Finally, the chapter concludes by discussing how data from active sensors are used to assess damages from various types of natural disasters.