Multi-Temporal Correlation Method for Damage Assessment of Buildings from High-Resolution SAR Images of the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan

In this study, damage caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the city of Tacloban, Philippines is extracted from COSMO-SkyMed imagery data. A multitemporal correlation map, i.e., a color composite of the backscattering coefficients obtained on different days and their correlation coefficients, is used to indicate changes. The Hyperboloid Change Index is proposed as a measure of the level of destruction. The method is demonstrated in a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system to elaborate the relationships among the aforementioned parameters. Compared to other candidate methods, a hyperboloid equation is found to be the most suitable for change detection, and its resulting positive value indicates that the typhoon had a high level of impact on the area. Potential damage areas are extracted using a thresholding operation, and the results are compared to two WorldView-2 satellite images to specifically assess coastal erosion and damage to buildings and offshore fish traps.