Collaborative Research: Optimization of Remote Sensing Networks for Time-sensitive Detection of Fine Scale Damage to Critical Infrastructure

这项研究的重点是评估地震、洪水、飓风和野火等重大灾害事件对基础设施造成的损害。前提是一些基础设施（例如，特别是在城市中，基础设施（桥梁和医院）对于拯救人类生命和支持应急行动至关重要，因此，关于此类基础设施受损状况的近实时信息至关重要，但可能难以通过传统的地面观测和传感器网络确定，因为这些网络在灾害发生后可能无法发挥作用。应对这一灾后信息获取挑战的潜在解决方案是基于小型有人或无人飞机和商用数码相机设计和实施灵活、随时可部署、时间敏感的航空成像系统。关键是要确定哪些基础设施类型是真正的“关键”，然后设计和预先规划低成本系统，以满足最大的时间交付和最小的损害应急管理人员的信息可靠性要求。灾害事件前后的航空图像被精确对齐，然后进行比较，以检测基础设施的损坏情况，在如此短的时间内绘制并传播给应急管理人员，以便采取应急响应行动，最大限度地减少生命损失和不便。本研究的研究部分涉及与关键基础设施有关的应急管理信息需求的访谈和调查在灾害事件发生后，以及与航空成像工作流程有关的技术研究。将对应急管理人员进行调查，以确定关键基础设施特征的优先顺序，并确定他们可能遭受的损害类型，以及需要多久获得有关此类损害的信息，以便做出适当的反应。虽然这似乎是显而易见的第一步，但大多数航空成像技术的研究和实施都没有迈出这一步，即使迈出这一步，也没有处理信息传递的时间敏感性。基于航空成像技术的快速反应系统的技术设计将参考调查反应的综合结果。这些系统涉及飞行计划、图像捕获、处理和分析，以及向应急管理人员提供损害信息。简化图像和地图产品的无线传输可能是优化此信息流的一部分。所有这些组件和端到端系统将根据其对接受调查的应急管理人员的效用进行评估。将制定程序，在满足最低限度的细节和精确度要求的同时，优化提供损坏信息的时间。这些程序和一个原型端到端系统将进行测试，模拟事件涉及应急管理人员在新墨西哥州和加州。

The focus of this study is on assessing damage to infrastructure following major hazard events such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and wildfires. The premise is that some infrastructure (e.g., bridges and hospitals), particularly in cities, is so critical to saving human lives and supporting emergency response actions that near real-time information on the damage status of such infrastructure is essential and yet may be difficult to ascertain with conventional, ground observations and sensor networks that may not be functioning following a disaster. A potential solution to this post-hazard information access challenge is to design and implement flexible, ready-to-deploy, time-sensitive aerial imaging systems based on a small manned or unmanned aircraft and commercially available digital cameras. The key is to determine which infrastructure types are truly "critical" and then design and pre-plan low-cost systems that meet maximum time to delivery and minimum damage information reliability requirements of emergency managers. Aerial imagery from before and after a hazard event are precisely aligned and then compared to enable infrastructural damages to be detected, mapped and disseminated to emergency managers in such a short amount of time that emergency response actions can be taken to minimize loss of lives and inconveniences.The research components of this study involve interviews and inquiries into emergency management information requirements pertaining to critical infrastructure following disaster events, as well as technical studies pertaining to the aerial imaging work flow. Emergency managers will be surveyed to prioritize critical infrastructural features and determine what types of damages they may be subjected to and how soon information about such damage is needed in order to be appropriately responsive. While a seemingly obvious first step, most aerial imaging technology studies and implementations fail to take this step and when they do, fail to deal with the time sensitivity of information delivery. The technical design of rapid-response systems based on aerial imaging technology will be informed by the synthesis of survey responses. Such systems involve flight planning, image capture, processing, and analysis, and damage information delivery to emergency managers. Incorporating wireless transfer of imagery and map products may be part of optimizing this information flow. All of these components and the end-to-end system will be evaluated in terms of their utility to the surveyed emergency managers. Procedures for optimizing the time to delivery of damage information while meeting minimum detail and precision requirements will be developed. These procedures and a prototype end-to-end system will be tested for simulated events involving emergency managers in New Mexico and California.