Abstract
Earthquake-induced liquefaction poses significant risks to the urban environment and infrastructure lifelines. Following significant liquefaction, surface ejecta can impact facilities, impede transportation systems and complicate emergency response. Few studies have applied remote sensing technologies to map the spatial extent of liquefaction ejecta across entire affected urban areas. Here, we use object-based image analysis (OBIA) of aerial photography and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to map the occurrence of liquefaction ejecta following the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. The OBIA achieved an 81.8 % overall accuracy for an initial classification that identified the presence or absence of liquefaction ejecta. The overall accuracy decreased to 74.8 % when attempting to distinguish between liquefaction ejecta deposited over differing land covers; this was due to the spectral and textural variation amongst these being insufficiently unique. We suggest that OBIA is useful for efficient determination of the spatial extent of post-disaster liquefaction ejecta in urban environments. This is significant for its potential to support emergency response and clean-up operations as well as longer-term ground performance and infrastructure impact assessments.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the New Zealand Earthquake Commission for provision of LiDAR data and aerial imagery, and acknowledge the assistance of staff at New Zealand Aerial Mapping. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions that improved the manuscript. Land damage and LiDAR data are available via the Canterbury Earthquake Geotechnical Database (CGD): https://canterburygeotechnicaldatabase.projectorbit.com/.
Author contributions
Corresponding author Justin Morgenroth (JM) conceived the idea for the study, which was subsequently fully developed with co-authors Matthew Hughes (MH) and Misko Cubrinovski (MC). MC provided funding to acquire the near-infrared aerial photography band. Object-based image analysis and accuracy assessment were conducted by JM. Classification of sample points for accuracy assessment was conducted by MH. MH and JM contributed equally to writing the introduction, discussion and conclusion. MH produced all maps for Fig. 1. JM wrote the introduction and results. MC helped interpret results and determine implications of the results. MC also reviewed and provided editorial feedback on drafts of the completed manuscript.
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Morgenroth, J., Hughes, M.W. & Cubrinovski, M. Object-based image analysis for mapping earthquake-induced liquefaction ejecta in Christchurch, New Zealand. Nat Hazards 82, 763–775 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2217-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-016-2217-0