The Mw 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan in 2011 was followed by a large-scale tsunami in the Tohoku region. The damage in the coastal plane was extensively displayed through many satellite images. Furthermore, satellite imaging is requested for the ongoing evaluation of the restoration process. The reconstruction of the urban structure, farmlands, grassland, and coastal forest that collapsed under the large tsunami requires effective long-term monitoring. Moreover, the post-tsunami land cover dynamics can be effectively modeled using time-constrained satellite data to establish a prognosis method for the mitigation of future tsunami impact. However, the remote satellite capture of a long-term restoration process is compromised by accumulating spatial resolution effects and seasonal influences. Therefore, it is necessary to devise a method for data selection and dataset structure. In the present study, the restoration processes were investigated in four years following the disaster in a part of the Sendai plain, northeast Japan, from same-season satellite images acquired by different optical sensors. Coastal plains struck by the tsunami are evaluated through land-cover classification processing using the clustering method. The changes in land cover are analyzed from time-series optical images acquired by Landsat-5/TM, 7/ETM+, 8/OLI, EO-1/ALI, and ALOS-1/AVNIR-2. The study reveals several characteristics of the change in the inundation area and signs of artificial and natural restoration.

Date Published: 4 September 2015
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9610, Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability XII, 961006 (4 September 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2187981

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9610:
Remote Sensing and Modeling of Ecosystems for Sustainability XII
Wei Gao; Ni-Bin Chang; Jinnian Wang, Editor(s)