technology developed for the u.s space
program is being put to use on earth
helping the state of florida recover
from one of the worst hurricanes it has
ever encountered
just days after hurricane andrew carved
a path of destruction across florida
nasa's john c stennis space center
responded to a request for assistance by
florida governor lawton childs
because of a long-time partnership
florida officials were aware of the
mississippi space center's expertise in
remote sensing and how this technology
could be used to assist hurricane relief
efforts
stennis personnel flew down to south
florida on a nasa learjet but is
equipped with specialized sensors
these sensors took photographic-like
images of the hurricane-stricken region
two types of images were acquired color
infrared aerial photography and digital
scanner data
nasa scientist bruce davis said both
types are important for different
reasons
the photography that we took was
immediately
critical to the disaster assessment
procedure
it allowed for an immediate assessment
of the hardest hit areas in south dake
county the digital data that we acquired
will be useful later on in the context
of evaluating evaluating policies
regulations building codes zoning
so forth and so on the photography was
was crucial in understanding the hardest
hit areas forming
photographic maps so that damage
assessment teams could get in the field
prioritize the areas to go to and go to
those hardest hit areas first
florida officials use the aerial
photography to assess the amount of
damage in dollars and to determine which
areas had been the hardest hit
so that relief efforts could be
prioritized
when davis compared infrared photos of
homestead florida taken before the
hurricane with those he took less than
one week after andrew went across south
florida
the storm's destruction was evident
what we have are color infrared
photography of
before hurricane andrew and after
hurricane andrew as you can see the
downtown area of homestead here
and then trailer parks residential areas
up in here
the after the hurricane photography
shows a great deal of destruction
in an area here where you see some
warehouses and strip commercial
development
much of that's been destroyed or heavily
damaged the trailer park that was right
here
they're actually only one two three
units remaining standing right here and
in the residential area that once was in
this general region you see a great deal
of debris
out in there representing heavy damage
to the residential district
these maps provided vital information to
the front line disaster assessment and
relief teams
knowing which areas needed immediate
attention and which roads were passable
or piled high with debris gave workers
the help they needed to speed up the
distribution of relief supplies
the color infrared imagery is also being
used to study the storm's impact on the
state's important natural resources
officials are using the information to
study beach loss erosion and damage done
to the mangrove areas in this image
which is a pre andrew or before the
hurricane the red tones here are
lush healthy green vegetation
over here is the
after hurricane photography and as
you'll notice there are no red tones
indicating that all of the green leaves
have been stripped from the trees the
trunks are laid over in the direction of
the wind and that all we really have
left here are some short low-lying
grasses
the mangrove forests are important
because they form a natural buffer
against tidal surges which are driven in
by hurricanes and the high winds they
protect communities that lie inland from
coastal areas
color infrared photography and digital
scanner imagery are important tools in
disaster assessment both are crucial in
solving immediate problems but the
digital data will be used for long-term
planning
this digital imagery differs from this
color infrared photography in that it is
digital in nature
and can be incorporated as computer maps
which will enable
local government officials to overlay
other types of maps onto it and assess
the type of let's say zoning
flood district
network power utilities so forth and so
on on this imagery and see where did the
damage occur
how can they change their policies to
then
prevent as much damage as occurring the
next time
what i'm particularly proud of is the
fact that we responded very quickly to
the governor's request
and that we were able to put useful
information
in his hands in a very rapid manner when
time was critical nasa was there sharing
space developed technology to help in
hurricane relief efforts
this assistance continues as the state
looks for ways to rebuild communities
left destroyed
reporting for nasa's johns east in a
space center this is johnny