NASA data helps pinpoint impacted populations in disaster aftermath

Science Daily: When two catastrophic natural disasters struck within days of each other in May 2008, disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and health officials, as well as members of the news media tapped into a unique set of NASA data products describing the location of the exposed populations. In the hours and days following the cyclone in Burma and the earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province, workers had the data they needed to assess the numbers of people possibly affected in these deadly events. What arose was a timely example of how NASA data comes to the aid of officials when such disasters occur.

“The gridded population product we produce helps officials understand the density of the population in and around a disaster area,” said Robert Chen, manager of NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) and director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York. “The data set shows where people actually live in relationship to hazardous events."

Members of the news media use the data and associated maps to report on possible casualties and property destruction. “When a major disaster hits, people want to know how many people were exposed to the disaster, in addition to how many were killed,” said Chen. “For example, CNN used our map of population density in Burma to help explain how the unusual path of cyclone Nargis affected the low-lying, densely populated delta.”….

SEDAC/CIESIN's Gridded Population of the World map of Burma captures areas in shades of brown that become darker with increased population. Coastal areas hit hardest by the cyclone in May 2008 were highly populated. (Credit: SEDAC/CIESIN)