Application of rapid seismic damage assessment based on remote sensing to Wenchuan earthquake

Wenchuan M8.0 earthquake occurred on May 12,2008 in Sichuan Province.Under the circumstance of destructive land transportation and communication disruption,remote sensing technology became the crucial measure of acquiring seismic disaster information,earthquake emergency response and post-earthquake rapid assessment.This paper presents the procedure of earthquake emergency response and post-earthquake rapid assessment using high-resolution remote sensing images.The rapid assessment process involves with many technologies,including rapid remote sensing image correction,image enhancement,seismic damage information extraction,rapid seismic disaster information assessment and web publication of assessment results.Seismic damage information of Wenchuan earthquake was acquired accurately by utilizing the seismic damage recognition and rapid assessment technology of remote sensing data.Wenchuan earthquake intensity distribution map based on remote sensing data is in accordance with that based on ground investigation which is published by China Earthquake Administration.It is the very first time that accurate overall disaster information distribution and preliminary seismic damage assessment results are provided within the 2-6 hours after seismic damage remote sensing images acquired.Seismic damage recognition and rapid assessment technology based on remote sensing play an important role in Wenchuan earthquake disaster information extraction,emergency response and post-earthquake rapid assessment.