Use of Crowd-Sourced Photographs in Post-Disaster Damage Assessment

This paper discusses the use of crowdsourced photographs after an earthquake to improve rapid damage assessments. Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, remote analysts were involved in the Global Earth Observation Catastrophe Assessment Network (GEOCAN), a crowd-sourcing technology that allows remote analysts to identify building damage using aerial imagery. In this paper, attention is focused on what inventory and damage capture standards would be required for crowd-sourced photographs to improve the accuracy of damage assessments. Results from a survey of social media users identifies whether the public would be willing to follow these guidelines. Potential strategies are recommended to improve future remote aerial based mapping techniques using crowd-sourced photographs. Barriers preventing its implementation are identified.