Satellite images from the NASA Earth Observatory show the scale of destruction in Turkey and Syria.
The satellite imagery
shows the damage to three Turkish cities. Dark red pixels indicate areas"likely to have severe damage" to buildings, homes and infrastructure, while"orange and yellow areas are moderately or partially damaged." According to the observatory, each pixel represents a space of about 30 meters, approximately the size of a baseball infield.
The maps were made by using a satellite's synthetic aperture radar. The radar is a sensor that sends microwave pulses towards Earth's surface, then listens for reflections of those waves to map the landscape. The landscape map includes buildings. Scientists at the observatory compared data from Feb. 8, two days after the quakes, to data collected in April 2021 and April 2022 and tracked the changes to identify damaged areas.
The map is being used by the disasters program team of NASA's Earth Science Applied Sciences Program to work with the U.S. State Department, the California Seismic Safety Commission, Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief and the World Bank. The team is also coordinating with the U.S. Agency for International Development to"assess the needs of stakeholders in the region and provide scientific expertise to support risk assessment and recovery efforts," NASA said in a news release.
"We're monitoring this event closely," said Shanna McClain, the manager of the program."In addition to mapping damage to the extent possible from satellites, we're using satellites to track increased landslide risks, power outages, and weather that could pose challenges to response efforts."
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