Buildings damage due to the 2013 Haiyan Typhoon inferred from SAR intensity images

Abstract

In this study, a practical methodology is presented to classify and map damaged buildings, following the 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan, using high resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and post-event building damage data from Tacloban city, The Philippines. Considering the relationship of the radar layover extension between damaged and non-damaged structures, the method focuses on the changes in the building radar signature between pre- and post-event SAR scenes. In addition, the method introduces a new change factor for change detection analysis. The method was developed and tested using a 1.0 m resolution COSMO-SkyMed SAR images taken over Tacloban city, the Philippines. The method proves, with 76% accuracy in this case, to be suitable for estimating destroyed buildings.