Damage assessment mapping of rural environments; integration of SAR and Optical data

Author(s):  
Shiran Havivi ◽  
Stanley R. Rotman ◽  
Dan G. Blumberg ◽  
Shimrit Maman

<p>The damage caused by a natural disaster in rural areas differs in nature, extent, landscape and in structure, from the damage in urban environments. Previous and current studies focus mainly on mapping damaged structures in urban areas after catastrophe events such as an earthquake or tsunami. Yet, research focusing on the damage level or its distribution in rural areas is absent. In order to apply an emergency response and for effective disaster management, it is necessary to understand and characterize the nature of the damage in each different environment. </p><p>Havivi et al. (2018), published a damage assessment algorithm that makes use of SAR images combined with optical data, for rapid mapping and compiling a damage assessment map following a natural disaster. The affected areas are analyzed using interferometric SAR (InSAR) coherence. To overcome the loss of coherence caused by changes in vegetation, optical images are used to produce a mask by computing the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and removing the vegetated area from the scene. Due to the differences in geomorphological settings and landuse\landcover between rural and urban settlements, the above algorithm is modified and adjusted by inserting the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) to better suit rural environments and their unique response after a disaster. MNDWI is used for detection, identification and extraction of waterbodies (such as irrigation canals, streams, rivers, lakes, etc.), allowing their removal which causes lack of coherence at the post stage of the event. Furthermore, it is used as an indicator for highlighting prone regions that might be severely affected pre disaster event. Thresholds are determined for the co-event coherence map (≤ 0.5), the NDVI (≥ 0.4) and the MNDWI (≥ 0), and the three layers are combined into one. Based on the combined map, a damage assessment map is generated. </p><p>As a case study, this algorithm was applied to the areas affected by multi-hazard event, following the Sulawesi earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Palu, Indonesia, which occurred on September 28th, 2018. High-resolution COSMO-SkyMed images pre and post the event, alongside a Sentinel-2 image pre- event are used as inputs. The output damage assessment map provides a quantitative assessment and spatial distribution of the damage in both the rural and urban environments. The results highlight the applicability of the algorithm for a variety of disaster events and sensors. In addition, the results enhance the contribution of the water component to the analysis pre and post the event in rural areas. Thus, while in urban regions the spatial extent of the damage will occur in its proximity to the coastline or the fault, rural regions, even in significant distance will experience extensive damage due secondary hazards as liquefaction processes.     </p>

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiran Havivi ◽  
Shimrit Maman ◽  
Stanley R. Rotman ◽  
Dan G. Blumberg

<p>Rapid damage mapping following a disaster event is critical to ensure that the emergency response in the affected area is prompt and efficient. Amongst major disasters, earthquakes are characterized as unpredictable and of high frequency of occurrence. Previous and current studies focus mainly on the mapping of damaged structures in urban areas after an event such as an earthquake disaster. Yet, research focusing on the damage level or its distribution in rural areas is absent. According to the UN, nearly half of the world's population lives in rural areas and is expected to rise. Furthermore, their resources and capabilities for disaster relief operations are limited. Therefore, there is a great importance to assess the damage following a disaster in these areas.</p><p>The primary aim of this study is to characterize and assess the damage (level and extent), temporally and spatially, following an earthquake event, in rural settlements. This will allow producing an algorithm suitable for rural area rapid mapping, which will contribute to our understanding and will provide insights of the damage extent and will allow a better response and access to the affected regions and remote population.</p><p>For this purpose, a damage assessment algorithm that will map the damage in both urban and rural environments is proposed. This algorithm makes use of combining SAR and optical data for rapid damage mapping.</p><p>As a case study we will demonstrate this algorithm using the areas affected by the Sulawesi earthquake and subsequent tsunami event in Indonesia that occurred on 28 September 2018. High-resolution COSMO-SkyMed images pre and post the event, alongside a Sentinel-2 image pre- event are used as inputs.</p><p>The affected areas were analyzed with the SAR data using interferometric SAR (InSAR) coherence map. To overcome the loss of coherence caused by changes in vegetation cover, a vegetation mask was applied by using the NDVI to identify (and remove) vegetated areas from the coherence map. Then, thresholds were determined for the co-event coherence map (≤ 0.5) and the NDVI (≥ 0.4) and the two layers were combined into one. Based on the combined map, a damage assessment map was generated by using GIS spatial statistic tools (Fishnet and Zonal statistics). This map provides a quantitative assessment of the nature and distribution of the damage in rural and urban environments, as well the differences of damage features between them. The preliminary results show that while in urban area many structures were damaged, still in the rural areas the damage is larger, since most of the structures were damaged or even destroyed.</p>


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Geggie ◽  
M. B. Fenton

We compared the foraging activity of populations of Eptesicus fuscus in rural and urban settings in eastern Ontario and western Quebec by monitoring their echolocation calls and by radio tracking individuals during the summer of 1980. Foraging was detected in all of the rural and urban habitats we monitored. There were no significant differences in the levels of foraging activity over different urban habitats, but the overall foraging rates were significantly higher in the rural than in the urban areas. Foraging in rural areas was significantly higher in residential zones and over water and was less common in parkland and farmland. Bats in rural areas foraged among aggregations of insects at lights, a pattern of behaviour not seen among urban bats. Differences in foraging rates and the fact that rural bats spent significantly less time away from their roosts suggest that prey density was lower in the urban setting. Although urban habitats appear to provide E. fuscus with a wealth of roosting sites, food supplies are lower there.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minyoung Jung ◽  
Junho Yeom ◽  
Yongil Kim

Combining pre-disaster optical and post-disaster synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data is essential for the timely damage investigation because the availability of data in a disaster area is usually limited. This article proposes a novel method to assess damage in urban areas by analyzing combined pre-disaster very high resolution (VHR) optical data and post-disaster polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) data, which has rarely been used in previous research because the two data have extremely different characteristics. To overcome these differences and effectively compare VHR optical data and PolSAR data, a technique to simulate polarization orientation angles (POAs) in built-up areas was developed using building orientations extracted from VHR optical data. The POA is an intrinsic parameter of PolSAR data and has a physical relationship with building orientation. A damage level indicator was also proposed, based on the consideration of diminished homogeneity of POA values by damaged buildings. The indicator is the difference between directional dispersions of the pre and post-disaster POA values. Damage assessment in urban areas was conducted by using the indicator calculated with the simulated pre-disaster POAs from VHR optical data and the derived post-disaster PolSAR POAs. The proposed method was validated on the case study of the 2011 tsunami in Japan using pre-disaster KOMPSAT-2 data and post-disaster ALOS/PALSAR-1 data. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method accurately simulated the POAs with a root mean square error (RMSE) value of 2.761° and successfully measured the level of damage in built-up areas. The proposed method can facilitate efficient and fast damage assessment in built-up areas by comparing pre-disaster VHR optical data and post-disaster PolSAR data.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Milan Tomić ◽  
Sandra Rover ◽  
Bojan Pejović ◽  
Nina Uremović

Different types of interactions between rural and urban areas have the effect of improving economic, social, cultural and political dimensions in both areas, separating these two areas by their type of activity. Rural and urban types of regions have different resources and means that can be used in a complementary way. In rural-urban interaction there is a possibility of occurrence of conflict of interest of these two areas. This kind of conflict should be overcome when applying the partnership approach between rural and urban areas. The types of rural areas, depending on the proximity of the urban center and the functions of these areas, are divided into suburban, agricultural and remote type areas. By determining the functions of each type of area, the type and intensity of the interactions of rural areas with the urban center are presented. Rural entrepreneurs are able to bridge rural-urban differences, possessing certain market knowledge and descriptions of the characteristics of urban environments, while benefiting from their position. Rural entrepreneurs' interaction with the urban environment can contribute to sustainable economic relations between citizens in urban and rural areas. This paper presents the results of research related to determining the functions of certain areas, their strengths, unused and utilized resources, the frequency of interaction with the urban environment and the perspectives of suburban, agricultural and remote type areas in the context of interaction with the urban environment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1567-1588
Author(s):  
David Deakins ◽  
Jo Bensemann

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present qualitative evidence on strategies undertaken by 34 innovative small firms. Design/methodology/approach The sample of innovative firms is solely recruited from the agri-business sector that are located in contrasting environments varying from rural areas with low urban influence to areas with high urban influence and “main” urban or city areas. The authors discuss strategies in the light of a theoretical approach that incorporates a resource-based view, dynamic capabilities (DCs) and social network theory. Findings Although there is diversity in strategies across the 34 innovative small firms, irrespective of their “rural” or “urban” environment, qualitative evidence sheds light on differences in the way that strategies are pursued. Research limitations/implications The study indicates that small firms in rural environments can be just as innovative as their counterparts in urban environments; however, the authors demonstrate that they adopt different strategies, which have been shaped by their environment, to achieve innovation. The authors use the qualitative evidence to develop the theory of DCs and classify the sample into four clusters which marries the environmental context and innovative DCs. Originality/value The paper makes a contribution to a research gap on the way that the environment can shape management strategies in innovative small firms. It contributes to a limited literature in this area.


2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 223-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boban Djuric ◽  
Tamara Ilic ◽  
Dragisa Trailovic ◽  
Zoran Kulisic ◽  
Sanda Dimitrijevic

This paper presents the results of two-year investigations of parasitic infections of the digestive tract of dogs originating from the territories of eight municipalities of Branicevo District. Investigations were performed on 345 dogs of different breeds and age categories, originating from rural and urban environments. The investigations encompassed dogs bred in decent hygiene conditions, as well as dogs living in unhygienic conditions. Some of the dogs covered by these analyses were dewormed, but the bulk of the sampled material originated from dogs that were not treated with antihelminthics. Eight species of parasites of the digestive tract were diagnosed in the examined dogs from the territory of the Branicevo District: Toxocara canis, Ancylostoma caninum, Uncinaria stenocephala, Trichuris vulpis, coccidiae, Dipylidium caninum, Taenia spp. and Alaria alata. Today, it is still necessary to keep dogs in rural environments and isolated areas, since these animals are used to guard real estate and cattle. For quite some time now, there has also been wide-spread interest in keeping dogs in urban areas as well. It is evident on the grounds of data from big towns that the number of dogs in urban environments has been increasing constantly all over the world. However, the conditions for naturally maintaining dogs in towns have become increasingly more difficult and complicated. The amount of free space and the number of yards are constantly being reduced, so that dog owners are compelled to keep their pets in apartments. These altered living and diet conditions have resulted in more complex and varied health problems of dogs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Zulauf ◽  
Ralf Wagner

Most sustainability innovations are adapted to the needs of urban areas. These innovations are either not offered at all in rural areas (e.g., car sharing) or require massive effort and restrictions to be usable or effective (e.g., ride sharing). Delving deeper than the description scholarly research needs to clarify consumers' conceptualization of sustainability in urban and rural areas. Notably, the extent to which sustainable innovations are adopted and their associated adoption dynamics with the consequences for marketers, consumers and society differ between urban and rural. Two research questions are pressing: (i) How do conceptualizations of sustainability differ between rural and urban living consumers? (ii) Which consequences for sustainable marketing management arise from differences and similarities of upstream innovations with downstream dynamics in urban and rural areas? Despite the wide range of previous research, the question of whether consumers living in urban and rural areas have a similar understanding of “sustainability” has not been comprehensively addressed. We consider the literature on both the intention-action gap in sustainability and Value-Belief-Norm Theory. This provides researchers with guidance to reveal divergences in values, motives and enablers for sustainability among people in urban and rural areas. Studies that deepen the understanding of how innovative service and product offers need to be designed to the specificities of urban and rural environments, contribute to clarifying consumers' intention-action gap.


2002 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
MASAHIRO UMEZAKI ◽  
TARO YAMAUCHI ◽  
RYUTARO OHTSUKA

Time spent on subsistence activities was compared between rural sedentes and urban migrants of the Huli population in Papua New Guinea. Person-day observation data were collected for rural sedentes (441) in the Tari basin and for urban migrants in Port Moresby (175). The time spent on subsistence activities by males was longer in the urban area than in rural areas, while that by females was similar in both areas. Conspicuous gender inequality with respect to labour hours in rural areas seems to diminish when people move to urban areas, reflecting the different subsistence regime between rural and urban environments.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Ehrlich

As the human enterprise expands, the task of preserving biodiversity increasingly must be carried out in areas heavily modified by humanity ? the domain of countryside biogeography (Daily 2001; Daily et al. 2001). Countrysides normally are thought of as rural environments. The dividing line between rural and urban is often blurred by suburbs; urban environments represent the expanding end of a continuum of disturbance, the other end of which is the shrinking domain of relatively undisturbed natural areas and wilderness. Because of the growing preponderance of urbanization, ecologists over the past quarter century have increasingly turned their attention to conservation in urban areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn H Smith ◽  
Jesi Hessong-Brown ◽  
Sara E Lipshutz ◽  
Jennifer N Phillips ◽  
Catherine Rochefort ◽  
...  

Abstract Urbanization is one of the most extreme forms of land transformation and results in changes to ecosystems and species compositions. As a result, there are strong directional selection pressures compared to nearby rural areas. Despite a surge in research on the different selection pressures on acoustic communication in urban and rural areas, there has been comparatively little investigation into traits involved with visual communication. We measured the plumage of museum specimens of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) from urban and adjacent rural habitats in San Francisco, CA, to assess the effects of divergent habitats on plumage. We found significant differences in dorsal plumage, but not crown plumage, between urban and rural populations that have been diverging over the past 100 years. Urban birds have increasingly darker and duller dorsal plumage, whereas rural birds in adjacent areas have plumage with richer hues and more color complexity. Our findings suggest a newly observed adaptation to urban environments by native species and suggest that many traits, in addition to acoustic signals, may be changing in response to urban selection pressures. Additional collections in urban areas are needed to explore likely divergences in plumage coloration between urban and rural environments.


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