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Disaster Management

When disaster strikes, Landsat offers a critical bird’s-eye view to help prepare communities, assess damage, and coordinate response efforts.

Landsat 8 image of flooding in Madagascar

Landsat's Role in Responding to Disasters

In 2022, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) reported 387 natural hazards and disasters worldwide, resulting in the loss of over 30,000 lives and affecting more than 185 million individuals. Economic losses totaled around US$223.8 billion. Fires, floods, heat waves, drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters can be particularly tragic and costly when critical facilities such as power plants, airports, roads, and hospitals are threatened. When a disaster strikes, remote sensing is often the only way to get a big-picture view of what is happening on the ground.

With its consistent, reliable, repeated observations of Earth’s changing surface, Landsat keeps a record of Earth’s land surfaces before and after disasters, serving as an essential tool for assessing risk, mapping the extent of damage, and planning post-disaster recovery. Landsat produces 185-kilometer-wide images with 30-meter resolution in visible and infrared wavelengths of light, making it possible to map impacts on the landscape in ways otherwise not visible to human sight. For example, Landsat sensors enable us to see the heat from fires both during and after the burns, and the lava flows from volcanic eruptions even when gaseous substances obscure the view to human eyes.

Designed, built, and launched by NASA, Landsat satellites have recorded global ecosystem conditions every year since 1972. The U.S. Geological Survey provides this valuable data to the public at no cost. Landsat observations continue into the future with the Landsat 9 satellite launched on Sept. 27, 2021.

Although Japan’s Sakura-jima volcano is one of the most active in the world, it rarely makes headlines. One or two small explosions typically occur every few days, with effects no greater than a light dusting of ash on the surrounding cities. On August 18, 2013, a large eruption sent ash 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) above Kagoshima Bay, breaking the established pattern. It was possibly the largest eruption ever from the Showa Crater, which formed in 1946.
Although Japan’s Sakura-jima volcano is one of the most active in the world, it rarely makes headlines. One or two small explosions typically occur every few days, with effects no greater than a light dusting of ash on the surrounding cities. On August 18, 2013, a large eruption sent ash 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) above Kagoshima Bay, breaking the established pattern. It was possibly the largest eruption ever from the Showa Crater, which formed in 1946.
NASA/Earth Observatory

Landsat and Natural Disasters PDF

Landsat Data for Local and Global Decision-making

  • Mitigating damage from fire
  • Quantifying the extent of floods
  • Tracking rock avalanches and glacial lake growth
  • Observing severe drought
  • Mapping the impacts of volcanic eruptions

Mitigating Damage from Fire 

Landsat data enable natural resource managers to assess the severity and extent of large fires for planning recovery efforts. For example, the U.S. Forest Service’s Burned Area Emergency Response team uses Landsat data to map vegetation, water and soil changes after a fire. With these maps the staff can identify the areas that have been burned most severely, and treat them to mitigate increased runoff and erosion. 

Firefighters work on the Lodgepole Fire. The Lodgepole Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest near Challis, ID began on Jul. 20, 2013 by lightning has consumed approximately 13,700 acres and is approximately 15% contained. U.S. Forest Service photo.
Firefighters work on the Lodgepole Fire. The Lodgepole Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest near Challis, ID began on Jul. 20, 2013 by lightning has consumed approximately 13,700 acres and is approximately 15% contained.
U.S. Forest Service photo.

Quantifying the Reach of Floods 

Landsat data is regularly contributed to the International Disaster Charter to enable timely disaster response, including flood mapping. By using Landsat to map historic flooding patterns, USGS hydrologists can better predict future flood hazards, and the joint-agency SERVIR program relies heavily on Landsat for both historic flood analysis and near-real-time flood monitoring. 

Tracking rock avalanches and glacial lake growth 

In 2020, a Landsat-based study showed that the volume of glacial lakes had increased by 50% globally, since 1990. This information feeds into assessments of hazard potential for communities downstream. Glacial lake outburst floods have been responsible for thousands of deaths and the destruction of entire villages. Landsat data has also shown an increase of rock avalanches in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park as temperatures warm. 

Observing Severe Drought 

Droughts are now considered the most severe natural hazard worldwide. Landsat data shows the impact of drought on vegetation at a scale that enables water managers to better allocate limited water resources. As climate change exacerbates drought conditions, successful water allocation has become a key adaptation strategy. From Australia's Murray-Darling Basin to the Western U.S., Landsat's ability to detect light in visible, near-infrared, shortwave-infrared and thermal infrared wavelengths provides key insights for drought mitigation. 

Example of Landsat Provisional Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) product near the Colorado/Nebraska border near the Platte River.
Example of Landsat Provisional Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) product near the Colorado/Nebraska border near the Platte River. ETa measures the amount of water evaporated from land surfaces and transpired by plants. This satellite-based data helps track water use across large areas, offering valuable insights into agricultural water management, drought monitoring, and environmental conservation. The product aids in understanding water availability and usage, making it a crucial tool for farmers, researchers, and policymakers in managing water resources effectively.

Mapping the Results of Volcanic Eruptions 

The International Disaster Charter routinely ingests Landsat volcano imagery from around the world for hazard monitoring. Additionally, Landsat’s long data archive, enables researchers like the U.S. Forest Service’s Sean Healey to monitor forest recovery in the blast zone of places like Mount St. Helens. Healey remarks, “The really unique part about the Landsat record is the fact that it goes back to the ‘70s. I can’t imagine what it would be like to describe what this volcano did without having a time series of Landsat. There is no other asset in the sky that can show us what Landsat does in terms of the effect of this eruption and also the effect of recovery following the eruption.” 

Further Reading 

Burned Area Emergency Response

Mapping Past Floods to Help Predict Future Ones

SERVIR Global

Global Survey Using Landsat Shows Dramatic Growth of Glacial Lakes

OpenET  

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