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Post-War Urban Damage Mapping Using InSAR: The Case of Mosul City in Iraq
| Content Provider | MDPI |
|---|---|
| Author | Boloorani, Ali Darvishi, Mehdi Weng, Qihao Liu, Xiangtong |
| Copyright Year | 2021 |
| Abstract | Urban infrastructures have become imperative to human life. Any damage to these infrastructures as a result of detrimental activities would accrue huge economical costs and severe casualties. War in particular is a major anthropogenic calamity with immense collateral effects on the social and economic fabric of human nations. Therefore, damaged buildings assessment plays a prominent role in post-war resettlement and reconstruction of urban infrastructures. The data-analysis process of this assessment is essential to any post-disaster program and can be carried out via different formats. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data and Interferometric SAR (InSAR) techniques help us to establish a reliable and fast monitoring system for detecting post-war damages in urban areas. Along this thread, the present study aims to investigate the feasibility and mode of implementation of Sentinel-1 SAR data and InSAR techniques to estimate post-war damage in war-affected areas as opposed to using commercial high-resolution optical images. The study is presented in the form of a survey to identify urban areas damaged or destroyed by war (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL, or ISIS occupation) in the city of Mosul, Iraq, using Sentinel-1 (S1) data over the 2014–2017 period. Small BAseline Subset (SBAS), Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and coherent-intensity-based analysis were also used to identify war-damaged buildings. Accuracy assessments for the proposed SAR-based mapping approach were conducted by comparing the destruction map to the available post-war destruction map of United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); previously developed using optical very high-resolution images, drone imagery, and field visits. As the findings suggest, 40% of the entire city, the western sectors, especially the Old City, were affected most by ISIS war. The findings are also indicative of the efficiency of incorporating Sentinel-1 SAR data and InSAR technique to map post-war urban damages in Mosul. The proposed method could be widely used as a tool in damage assessment procedures in any post-war reconstruction programs. |
| Starting Page | 140 |
| e-ISSN | 22209964 |
| DOI | 10.3390/ijgi10030140 |
| Journal | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| Issue Number | 3 |
| Volume Number | 10 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| Publisher Date | 2021-03-05 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information Isprs International Journal of Geo-information Remote Sensing Post-war Destruction Mapping Synthetic Aperture Radar (sar) Data Interferometric Sar (insar) Sentinel-1 |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
