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Pléiades Neo monitors post-fir...
Pléiades Neo monitors post-fire recovery in Lahaina, Hawaii
Large 2 months post-fires view of Lahaina
In August 2023, a devastating series of wildfires swept through Lahaina, a historic town on the western Hawaiian coast of Maui, causing widespread destruction.
The incident presented several challenges:
- Rapid Damage Assessment: There was an immediate need for detailed and accurate information of the extent of the damage to coordinate emergency response efforts effectively.
- Continuous Monitoring: As the fires continued to burn, it was crucial to monitor the situation in near real-time to understand the fire's progression and impact on the landscape.
- Long-Term Recovery Tracking: After the fires were extinguished, the area needed to be monitored over an extended period to assess recovery efforts and land restoration.
Before
After
Lahaina Port April 2023 / September 2024 Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS
To address all these challenges, Pléiades Neo satellites were used by leveraging its advanced capabilities to provide critical data throughout the crisis:
- With a resolution of 30cm, Pléiades Neo offers unprecedented detail in imagery, allowing for accurate damage assessment and precise mapping of affected areas.
- The ability to revisit the same location every day ensures that the most up-to-date information was available - essential for tracking the fires' progress and impact.
- From the pre-fire state in July 2023 to continuous monitoring every two months up until August 2024, Pléiades Neo captured a comprehensive timeline of the area's recovery.
- The ability to compare images over time enabled the detection of changes in land cover and vegetation, critical for assessing the effectiveness of recovery efforts.
Large view of Lahaina before the fires
Before the Fires (July 2023):
Thanks to the large coverage established prior to the wildfires, Pléiades Neo acquired very-high resolution images of Lahaina, providing a baseline of the area before the wildfires.
The images available in the OneAtlas archive can be crucial for pre-event analysis and planning.
First image of Lahaina during the fires, view of a destructed residential area
During the Fires (August 2023):
As the wildfires spread, Pléiades Neo delivered near real-time imagery of the affected areas thanks to the OneNow tasking option, enabling valuable insights in the shortest possible timeframe.
The very-high resolution images were able to help emergency responders to assess the extent of the damage, identify hotspots, and prioritize resources.
Post-Fire Monitoring (October 2023 - August 2024):
Over the subsequent months, Pléiades Neo continued to monitor the area, acquiring images every two months thanks to the repeated and regular acquisitions over the area from the Pléiades Neo Multi-OnePlan tasking option.
This ongoing observation tracked the recovery of the landscape, the rebuilding of infrastructure, and the re-establishment of vegetation.
This data can also provide insights into any new challenges, such as soil erosion or delayed regrowth.
April 2023
September 2024
Lahana evolution 1 year post fire April 2023 / September 2024 - Pléiades Neo © Airbus DS
The use of Pléiades Neo satellite imagery combined with the OneTasking offer can provide significant benefits in managing the aftermath of wildfires:
- Comprehensive damage assessment: The high-resolution imagery allows for an accurate and detailed assessment of the damage, supporting the immediate allocation of resources and helping to prioritize areas for intervention.
- Long-term environmental monitoring: The consistent acquisition of images over a full year provided invaluable data for understanding the long-term impact of the fires on the environment and the effectiveness of recovery efforts.
- Data-driven decision making: The detailed temporal data enables stakeholders to make informed decisions about land management, resource allocation, and community rebuilding efforts.
The acquisition of Pléiades Neo imagery during wildfires, such as the ones that occurred in Lahaina, highlight the critical role that advanced satellite imagery services can play in disaster response and recovery, offering a comprehensive toolset for monitoring, assessment, and planning.
Our sales team will be happy to provide you more information about this use case and how it can meet your business needs.
