Automated detection and classification of intact road networks in multi-sensorial spaceborne imagery for near-realtime disaster management

In this paper, we describe and evaluate an image analysis system for the automated verification of intact roads from multi-sensorial spaceborne imagery. The system is designed to support rescue teams during the reaction on natural disasters such as floodings, landslides or earthquakes. Hence, verification of intact roads comprises both the identification of roads as well as the classification of accessible/intact and inaccessible/damaged roads. Depending on the type and complexity of the input data, the system can be run in a fully automatic or semi-automatic mode, where a human operator can edit intermediate results to ensure the required quality of the final results.