Remotely Sensed Data, Imagery, and Analytics

Remote sensing is the science of obtaining data about objects or areas from a distance.
FEMA GIS and partners use remotely sensed data to make accurate and timely decisions for response and recovery.


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Explore Incident Related Resources on the Incident Pages and Data page. Here you will find incidents by year in chronological order. 

Screenshot of Gray Sky imagery from NICB


Crowdsourced Photo Resources


US and International Partner Resources

Content and Resources for Technical Users

CAP imagery screenshot

Civil Air Patrol GIS Hub

CAP has aircraft and pilots pre-positioned in all 50 States and US territories ready to support disaster response activity on a quick notice.

NOAA imagery screenshot

NOAA Remote Sensing

The NOAA Remote Sensing Division often acquires and rapidly disseminate a variety of spatially-referenced datasets to federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as the general public.

Copernicus imagery screenshot

Copernicus EMS Mapping

Copernicus provides information for emergency response in relation to different types of disasters, including meteorological hazards, geophysical hazards, deliberate and accidental man-made disasters.

DAART imagery screenshot

National Guard DAART

DAART is a web-based program that pulls together geospatial intelligence assets from a variety of sources, including terrain and mapping.

USGS NGP Imagery screenshot

USGS NGP Imagery

(NGP) provides a foundation of digital geospatial data representing the topography, natural landscape, and manmade environment of the United States.

NASA disaters imagery screenshot

NASA Disasters Program

The Disasters Applications area promotes the use of Earth observations to improve prediction of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural and technological disasters.

International Charter imagery screenshot

International Charter for Space and Major Disasters

The International Charter is a worldwide collaboration through which satellite-derived information and products are made available to support disaster response efforts.

U.S. Army Corp imagery screenshot

U.S Army Corps GRiD

GRiD is designed to store, process, visualize, and disseminate a variety of geospatial datasets, such as 3D pointcloud data and associated geospatial products.


Potential Product Types and Applications

Content and Resources for Technical Users



Product

Description

Potential FEMA Uses		 Hazards Supported
Flood Hurricane Tornado Earthquake Wildfires


Flood Extent		 Use image classification on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) or multispectral imagery to identify water and delineate extent of flood zone.
  • Modeled flood depth grid validation
  • Damage estimation


Feature Identification: Debris		 Use change detection based on reflectance (multispectral) or backscatter/amplitude/ coherence (SAR) to identify areas where structures and buildings have been damaged, destroyed, or washed away.
  • Damage estimation
  • Debris estimation
  • Debris volume estimation
  • Debris removal planning

Debris Volume Estimation		 Estimate the volume of debris from post-event elevation data (e.g. LIDAR, stereo-imagery).
  • Debris volume estimation
  • Debris removal planning

Feature Identification: Soil Moisture		 Detect areas where soil is saturated before a flooding event using SAR backscatter/amplitude or multispectral reflectance values.
  • Flood forecasting
  • Landslide prediction
  • Wildfire mitigation
Feature Identification: Potential Shelter Locations Identify open, dry, safe areas for support/relief purposes and temporary shelter
  • Temporary shelter planning
  • Relief supplies distribution planning
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) Assess whether the target region contains live green vegetation or not. Identify areas of dead vegetation post-flooding event.
  • Wet debris estimation (several weeks post-event)
Feature Identification: Displaced Persons Camps Identify where displaced people are concentrating. Feature identification: blue tarps, tents, etc.
  • Support relief planning
  • Rescue efforts
Damage Assessment (Critical Infrastructure and Residential Infrastructure) Use post-event orthorectified optical imagery and/or elevation data (e.g. LIDAR, stereo imagery) to identify and assess damages to structures and buildings.
  • Damage assessment

Ground Deformation		 Detect vertical ground displacement using pre- and post-event interferometric SAR images (InSAR).
  • Damage assessment
  • Debris estimation

Landslide Detection		 Detect creeping and landslides using pre- and post-event interferometric SAR images (InSAR).
  • Landslide prediction
  • Landslide detection

Radiation Detection		 Detect and map radiation/unstable isotopes using unmanned helicopter (drone) electromagnetic radiation (EMR) measurements.
  • Response planning operations

Identify Isolated Area		 Use imagery to identify isolated areas by detecting damaged roads, bridges, and other pathways.
  • Response planning operations


Routing Map		 Use imagery to detect unsafe/damaged roads, bridges, and other pathways to find safest way into damaged or destroyed cities.
  • Response planning operations
Hot Spot/Thermal Mapping Identify hot spots in buildings and debris to mitigate fires using thermal infrared imagery.
  • Fire rescue
  • Wildfire detection



Join the Community


During disaster incidents we hold coordination calls with federal, state, and local geospatial personnel. View the Incident Call page to learn more and for information on how to participate.

Visit our Community page to learn more about how to access and share geospatial resources with FEMA.

For more information, please email: FEMA-RGO@fema.dhs.gov.

For media inquiries and official press releases from FEMA, contact: FEMA-News-Desk@fema.dhs.gov.