An evaluation of the role played by remote sensing technology following the World Trade Center attack

Remote sensing technology has been widely recognized for contributing to emergency response efforts after the World Trade Center attack on September 11th, 2001. The need to coordinate activities in the midst of a dense, yet relatively small area, made the combination of imagery and mapped data strategically useful. This paper reviews the role played by aerial photography, satellite imagery, and LIDAR data at Ground Zero. It examines how emergency managers utilized these datasets, and identifies significant problems that were encountered. It goes on to explore additional ways in which imagery could have been used, while presenting recommendations for more effective use in future disasters and Homeland Security applications. To plan adequately for future events, it was important to capture knowledge from individuals who responded to the World Trade Center attack. In recognition, interviews with key emergency management and geographic information system (GIS) personnel provide the basis of this paper. Successful techniques should not be forgotten, or serious problems dismissed. Although widely used after September 11th, it is important to recognize that with better planning, remote sensing and GIS could have played an even greater role. Together with a data acquisition timeline, an expanded discussion of these issues is available in the MCEER/NSF report "Emergency Response in the Wake of the World Trade Center Attack: The Remote Sensing Perspective" (Huyck and Adams, 2002).

作 者： Charles K.Huyck Beverley J.Adams David I.Kehrlein   作者單位： Charles K.Huyck,Beverley J.Adams(ImageCat, Inc., 400 Oceangate, Suite 1050, Long Beach, CA, 90802, USA)

David I.Kehrlein(ImageCat, Inc., 6047 Woodhaven Avenue, Carmichael, CA, 95608, USA) 

刊 名： 地震工程與工程振動(英文版)  SCI 英文刊名： EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING VIBRATION  年，卷(期)： 2003 2(1)  分類號： X9  關鍵詞： World Trade Center (WTC)   terrorism   emergency response   emergency management   ground zero   remote sensing   emergency operations   disasters   geographic information systems (GIS)   satellite imagery   synthetic aperture radar (SAR)   light detection and rangi