RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

Remote Sensing and GIS for Landslide Mapping – Philippines

27 November – 1 December 2006

Executive Summary

Seminar and caravan training course on “Remote Sensing and GIS for Landslide
Mapping” was conducted in Manila, Philippines with the collaboration of Philippine
Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and the National Mapping and
Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) from 27 November to 1 December 2006. The
seminar was attended by 57 participants while 40 participants attended the caravan
training program for hands-on training.

The seminar was organized targeting administrators and policy makers to increase their
awareness about the potential use of geospatial data for landslides mapping and extend the
methodology for multi-hazard disaster risk reduction in Philippines. The seminar was
inaugurated by Dr. Renato U. Solidum, Jr. Director, Philippines Institute of Volcanology
and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) stressing the necessity of using advanced technologies like
remote sensing technology for disaster preparedness and mitigation in Philippines. The
presentation topics covered space program of JAXA, summary of Sentinel Asia and rapid
response system, Cooperation of ADRC in the rapid response system, case studies
demonstrating the potential of geospatial technologies in disaster risk reduction and the
prospects of high resolution ALOS data in disaster relief activities.

The Caravan training program was conducted for four days at the computer center of
PHIVOLCS. Through this training it was expected to provide technical knowledge to
participants on the effective use of remote sensing and GIS technologies in multi hazard
risk reduction, particularly landslide risk mapping. Mini-Project results of the year 2005
were used as base data for the training and modules and datasets were generated to suits
the background of the participants who were coming from various government
organizations.

The training covered theoretical aspects of few significant topics of satellite and GIS data
usage such as geospatial data standards, map projection, spectral properties of satellite
data, methods of information extraction from satellite data, digital elevation models,

1
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

interpolation methods and raster modeling within GIS environment. Furthermore,

participants were exposed to use of remote sensing and GIS technology to disaster damage
assessment .Given the limited time frame, specific hands on training was conducted to
meet the need of effective use of geo-spatial technology for disaster risk reduction.

Training manuals containing complete set of lecture notes as well as stepwise instructions
for data handling/analysis required in hands-on sessions were specifically developed and
distributed to all the participants. A CD containing hands-on training data such as JERS-
OPS, LANDSAT-TM, SRTM, ASTER-VNIR, ALOS-PRISM together with some GIS
layers created at GIC was provided to all the participants.

Participants were highly appreciated the comprehensive disaster management approach

demonstrated in the seminar and the hands-on training program. All the participants
agreed that a logical flow was maintained in teaching of basics to advance data processing
for disaster monitoring and risk reduction. They were happy with the simple procedures
adopted for disaster damage and risk assessment. Further, they expressed their sincere
thanks to JAXA for organizing this caravan training in Philippines.

2
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

CARAVAN SEMINAR AND TRAINING

REMOTE SENSING AND GIS FOR LANDSLIDES MAPPING

27 Nov- 01 Dec 2006, Philippines

1. INTRODUCTION
Geoinformatics Center (GIC) of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has been
conducting training courses in various countries in the region referred to as caravan
training since 1997 with the generous sponsorship of Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA). Under this sponsorship, GIC has successfully completed 19 caravan
training programs during the course of last 10 years in 9 countries; namely, Bangladesh,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Vietnam.
Every effort has been made to provide opportunities to all the countries in the region, with
special focus to least developed countries. Caravan training approach provides a good
opportunity to disseminate up-to-date knowledge on the practical usage of remote sensing
and GIS to larger audience of a chosen country with reducing overall cost. Starting from
this year, it was considered to involve more policy makers by adding a day seminar to the
caravan training program. Therefore, this caravan training composed with two areas;
Seminar on the first day and Hands-on Training for four days.

Natural Disaster is one of the major problems in the Philippines and it was decided to
consider disasters and Geoinformatics as the theme of caravan program for the year 2006.
The Philippines is found to be naturally vulnerable to environmental disasters. The
vulnerability of communities to hazards refers to their susceptibility to and capacity to
cope with environmental stresses. Recent and major events as well as their cumulative
impacts highlight the importance of identifying the vulnerability levels of certain areas and
segments of the Philippine population. The impacts of disasters, whether natural or man
made, not only have human dimensions, but environmental ones as well. Environmental
conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster. Deforestation, forest management
practices, agriculture systems etc. can exacerbate the negative environmental impacts of a
storm or typhoon, leading to landslides, flooding, silting and ground/surface water
contamination. The Philippines archipelago, located near the western edge of the Pacific
Ocean, is in the direct path of seasonal typhoons and monsoon rains which bring floods,
storm surges, and their attendant landslides and other forms of devastation. The

3
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

Philippines also sits on the “ring of fire” where the continental plates collide and thus
experience periodic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The Philippine exposure to
natural disasters may be characterized as frequent, varied, and severe; a combination
which has made the country particularly attentive to disaster reduction.

2. SEMINAR
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Geoinformatics Center-Asian
Institute of Technology (GIC-AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand collaborated with the Philippine
Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and the National Mapping and
Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) organizing the seminar to create awareness in
multi-hazard disaster mapping in the Philippines using Remote Sensing and Geographic
Information System (GIS). Seminar on “Geospatial Technologies for Disaster Mitigation:
Philippines Perspective” was held on 27 November 2006 at the City Garden Hotel, Makati
City. The seminar was aimed at exchanging information on the current and future
development of Earth Observation Systems with particular reference to JAXA’s space
program and their potential application towards disaster mitigation and management in
Philippines.

2.1 Summary of Seminar

The seminar was attended by 63 participants from government and private organizations
engaged in disaster mitigation and development activities and keen to incorporate remote
sensing techniques in their present day needs. List of participants is shown in Appendix A.
The resources personnel were from Philippines, Japan and Thailand with diversified
knowledge in the fields of remote sensing, GIS and disaster mitigation. The seminar was
inaugurated by Dr. Renato U. Solidum, Jr. Director, Philippines Institute of Volcanology
and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). In his welcome address, Dr. Solidum stressed on the
necessity of remote sensing technology for disaster preparedness and mitigation in
Philippines. Introducing Philippines as a country prone to almost all types of natural
disasters, he said the ‘Caravan Seminar’ facilitated by JAXA and GIC-AIT would be
highly beneficial for disaster preparedness and mitigation and as such he appealed the
participants to take advantage of the seminar in support of their efforts to minimize the
associated risk. Program of the seminar is given in Appendix B.

4
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

Mr. Naoki Saito of JAXA Bangkok office opened the seminar proper by introducing
JAXA space programs. He stated that Japan is committed to make significant
contributions to 3 areas namely disasters, climate and water, among 9 societal benefit
areas defined in the said plan. He then explained JAXA’s current and future space
programs like GEOSS, TRMM, GPM, AMSR, GCOM-W, GCOM-C, ALOS and GOSAT
in support of the above commitment. Reminding the audience of the disaster events which
took place in the recent past such as the December 2004 Tsunami, January 1995 Kobe
earthquake etc, Mr. Saito highlighted the advantages of space system such as “broad,”
“real-time coverage” and “disaster-proof communications.” He also disclosed JAXA’s
aim to establish a system making full use of these unique advantages of the space system
to collect information necessary for predicting disasters such as rapid change on the round
and in the atmosphere, and to send emergency warning directly to individual mobile phone
sets in a timely manner via communications satellites. Activities focusing on regional
coordination and cooperation such as APRSAF and Sentinal Asia were also presented. In
conclusion, the participants were made aware of JAXA’s involvement and devotion in
conducting capacity building programs including caravan training and mini projects.

Dr. Masahiko Honzawa of Asia Branch of JAXA Disaster Management Support Systems
Office (DMSSO) followed with an introduction to ‘Sentinal Asia’ as a disaster
management supporting system in the Asia-Pacific Region, which was proposed in 2004
by APRSAF. Accordingly, he noted that Sentinal Asia showcases the value and impact of
earth observation technologies combined with near real-time internet dissemination
methods and Web-GIS mapping tools. The establishment of APRSAF was also briefed.
He then presented the following activities of Sentinal Asia as:
1) Emergency observation by earth observation satellites in case of major disasters:
Currently participating satellites are ALOS (JAXA), Terra+Aqua (NASA) and
others.
2) Acceptance of observation requests: ALOS accepts observation requests for major
disasters in the Asia-Pacific region from Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)
member organizations and representative organizations of Sentinel Asia Joint
Project Team (JPT) members.

5
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

3) Wildfire monitoring and Flood monitoring: For wildfire monitoring, MODIS

(NASA) data are utilized, and for flood monitoring TRMM, GPM (NASA, JAXA)
and AMSR-E (NASA, JAXA) are expected to be used.
4) Capacity building for utilization of satellite images for disaster management: In
parallel with the activities above, capacity building for technical and emergency-
response agencies users of the Sentinel Asia system will be undertaken, primarily
under coordination by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) in
Bangkok.
Participants were requested to visit http://dmss.tksc.jaxa.jp/sentinel for further details.

Mr. Kenpei Kojika, Senior Researcher, Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) located
in Japan, after outlining the establishment of ADRC, briefly explained major activities of
ADRC as follows:
1) Information Sharing: Organizing international meetings and seminars, providing
disaster information, publication, development of training and education tools
2) Human Resource Development: Seminar and training, Visiting Researcher (VR)
program, development of risk management tools such as Total Disaster Risk
Management (TDRM)
3) Building Community Capabilities: Development of Community-Based Hazard
Map (CBHM) & town watching method, participating tsunami awareness and
various disaster-related projects
He stated that ADRC has provisions for emergency observation during large-scale natural
disasters and ADRC’s counterpart organizations and space agencies of JPT are eligible to
request for the emergency observation by ALOS (ID and PW required). Finally he noted
that the result is provided free-of-charge and no commercial use is allowed for provided
observation data and images.

Dr. Jose Edgardo Aban, Jr. one of the senior science research specialist of Philippine
Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development of Department
of Science and Technology (PCASTRD-DOST) made a presentation on the status of space
technology and its applications in the Philippines. He started with the long term goals of
PCASTRD like developing a self-generating critical mass of manpower for research and

6
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

development (R&D) in the advanced science and technology sector, building a network of
high-standard training and R&D institutions in the advanced science and technology sector,
constructing an effective mechanism for the advanced science and technology sector such
as policy-making, planning, financing and management, and strengthening national
competence in strategic advanced science and technology fields namely: biotechnology,
electronics, instrumentation and controls photonics technology, information technology,
materials science, space technology applications (coordinated by the Science and
Technology Coordinating Council-Committee On Space Technology Applications: STCC-
COSTA). He accordingly noted possible areas of collaboration as training, education and
development of courses geared towards space engineering (i.e. small satellite design),
Space Science, Space Management. Further exchange of foreign experts and other
technology transfer schemes between academic institutions and industry counterparts,
development of indigenous capability in software design particularly in satellite image
processing, GIS, etc. and upgrading of key meteorological and earth observation receiving
stations were also mentioned.

Dr. Manzul Hazarika, Senior Training and Research Specialist, GIC-AIT then proceeded
with an introduction to ‘Mini projects’ conducted by GIC-AIT as an object orientated-real
world-capacity building program designed to train the participants to utilize Remote
Sensing and GIS technologies towards disaster mitigation and management in the south
and southeast Asian region. He also presented the useful outcomes of some of the
completed mini projects. Further, the objectives of the on-going mini projects which focus
on floods, landslides, and droughts were also brought to the attention of participants.
Participating countries and the associated disasters were enlisted as follows.
1. Flood: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Laos and Nepal
2. Landslide: Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam
3. Drought: Philippines
Dr. Hazarika then briefed the activities of the Mini-Projects;
1) Workshop and Training in AIT– Aug & Sep (2006); 2) Field Visit – Nov & Dec (2006);
3) Data Analysis and Report Writing at AIT– Jan & Feb (2007).

Dr. Lal Samarakoon, Director, GIC-AIT followed with his presentation titled ‘Remote
Sensing Technology for Disaster Risk Management’. The presentation was prepared in

7
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

such a way that it stands as a positive response to a query whether space-based technology
could help disaster reduction/mitigation. A global and regional initiative for data
distribution in a disaster was also explained briefly together with the cooperating body to
the International Charter. The current high resolution satellite data including ALOS
system and sensor characteristics were also discussed. In conclusion, Dr. Samarakoon
summarized the following;

1) Satellite data for disaster mitigation is becoming available in a cost effective

manner
2) It is necessary to develop awareness programs on current development of space
programs to receive benefit from international initiatives
3) It is advisable for Philippines to keep abreast with ongoing regional and
international space program to receive full benefits from new technologies
4) JAXA offers various opportunities for data sharing and learning to use satellite
data in disaster mitigation activities

Dr. Jose C. Cabanayan, Jr. Asst. Director, Remote Sensing & Resource Data Analysis
Dept. NAMRIA related the status of geospatial data in Philippines and the remotely
sensed data available in NAMRIA. According to Dr. Cabanayan application of remote
sensing includes updating the topographic maps, generation of land cover map of the
country and coastal resource mapping. Inventorying remotely sensed data in the country
through the establishment of Web-based Remote Sensing System initiated by Inter-
Agency Task Force on Geographic Information (IATFGI) proposed in the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR’) Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP)
is now implemented by NAMRIA.

Dr. Renato U. Solidum, Jr. Director, PHIVOLCS presented the multi-agency geohazard
mapping project in the Philippines carried out by PHIVOLCS. He said that the principal
goal of PHIVOLCS was stated to formulate up-to-date and comprehensive disaster
preparedness and loss reduction actions plans for volcanic eruption, earthquake
occurrences and related geotectonic processes/phenomena (e.g. faulting, landslides and
tsunami) which imprint significant impacts on man and his environment. A corollary goal

8
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

is to exploit the positive aspects of these processes for the upliftment of the people’s
quality of life. In line with its role in the promotion of science and technology in the
country, PHIVOLCS will furthermore undertake activities gearing towards making people
aware of volcanoes and volcanology, earthquakes and seismology, and understand why,
where and how natural disasters of volcanic and seismic origins occur in the Philippines.

Dr. Arturo S. Daag, Supervising Science Research Specialist, PHIVOLCS briefed on

JAXA-AIT Mini-Project on landslide susceptibility mapping in the Philippines.
Accordingly an ongoing mini project ‘Deterministic modeling of rain- and earthquake-
induced landslides in mountainous environments transected by an Active Fault: A case
study in Southern Leyte Island, Philippines’ was also discussed.

Dr. Maria Leonila P. Bautista, Associate Scientist, PHIVOLCS-DOST gave a brief

description on developing a computer program known as REDAS for Rapid Earthquake
Damage Assessment System in the Philippines. REDAS can give rapid estimate of the
possible seismic hazards and the severity of the impacts to population, buildings, lifelines,
road networks and other elements-at-risks. REDAS, software for rapid estimation of
hazard and risk has been developed for the use of disaster managers for making prompt
decisions for quick deployment of rescue and relief operations. She mentioned that it can
also serve as an effective tool for convincing decision makers and city planners about the
need to prepare through serious land use regulation, strict enforcement of the building
code and retrofitting of critical structures. The availability and distribution of this software
will enable the government to save funds.

Mr. Bikash Ranjan Parida, Research Associate, GIC-AIT explained the approaches
adopted in drought monitoring using remote sensing techniques. He pointed out that
although there is no direct measurement of drought in remotely sensed data, surface
parameters retrieved by satellite sensors could be converted into useful information for
drought detection and monitoring. Mr. Parida also presented different indices used for
drought together with the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
satellite data.

9
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

The seminar ended with closing remarks from Dr. Bartolome C. Bautista, Deputy Director,
PHIVOLCS. He thanked JAXA and GIC-AIT for facilitating the event; the administrative
support personnel of PHIVOLCS and NAMRIA for their hard work; and the participants
for their active input during the workshop.

Dr. Bautista also remarked that the seminar sponsored by JAXA had facilitated the
working parties on disaster mitigation and management in Philippines to update their
knowledge on relevant geospatial technologies. Finally on behalf of the working parties,
Dr. Bautista requested JAXA’s support on such knowledge dissemination and capacity
building programs in the future as well to keep abreast with the ever emerging geospatial
technologies.

3. TRAINING
The training program was conducted at the computer center of PHIVOLCS located at
Quezon City for four days, from 28th November to 01 December 2006. The training
program was mainly on remote sensing and its application for disaster risk mitigation.
This was attended by 30 participants from government and private organizations of
Philippines. The selected participants working in areas of disaster risk mitigation and
related activities included students, researchers and professionals. Most of the participants
were found to be novice in the field of remote sensing and GIS among the target groups.
List of participants of the hands-on training is given in Appendix C.

3.1 Training Objectives

A survey of the organizations in Philippines working on disaster risk reduction indicated
that they lack expertise in effectively utilizing remote sensing technology in achieving
their goals. Based on this utilization the prime objective of the training program was:
1) To provide basic concepts of remote sensing and GIS.
2) To introduce a digital image processing package like ERMapper software.
3) To introduce ArcView software for DEM analysis.
4) To provide a glimpse of remote sensing and GIS data sources.
5) To introduce image fusion and its application on disaster mitigation.
6) To introduce damage assessment techniques and case studies.

10
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

3.2 Training Strategy

During the 4-day hands-on training program, nearly thirty percent of the time was
allocated for lectures and the rest was devoted for hands-on training providing additional
explanations and presentation to further clarify theoretical aspects behind operations. The
Course Schedule of the training program is shown in Appendix D.

Remote sensing and GIS course is new to many of the government departments in
Philippines; therefore, more emphasis was placed to provide basic concepts of remote
sensing and GIS. The first lecture was started with basics of Geographical Information
Systems (GIS), where participants were familiarized with vector data and raster data.
Subsequently basics of remote sensing were introduced i.e., electromagnetic radiation and
its interaction with earth’s surface, spectral signatures, image interpretation, map
projections and data types.
GIC provided training materials, resource persons, dataset CDs and softwares for the
training. Other facilities such as conference room, computers, projector, etc. were
organized by PHIVOLCS. Limited time license of ERMapper software was provided to
participants as the image processing software and GIS analysis was carried out using
ArcView software. The necessary licenses were provided by GIC during the course of the
training. Lecture notes, step-wise methods for hands-on training, satellite data and GIS
data were provided in a CD for all the participants.

4. TRAINING COURSE EXECUTION

4.1 Theory and Basic Concepts

Theory of GIS was introduced in the beginning of the training, and emphasis was given on
various GIS applications such as scientific investigations, resource management, and
development planning. The power of a GIS comes from the ability to relate different
information in a spatial context and to reach a conclusion about their relationships. GIS
can provide a great deal more problem-solving capabilities than using a simple mapping.
Theory of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is very important in remote sensing and its
concept was thoroughly explained to the participants. Interaction of solar radiation with
the earth surface, atmosphere attenuation of solar radiation, and the reflected energy from
the various objects were described to the participants. The basic concepts of digital data

11
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

and how digital numbers represent the reflected energy from the earth surface was
clarified. The necessary radiometric and geometric corrections of satellite data for various
applications were also explained to the participants.

4.2 Hands-On Training

ERMapper software and remote sensing satellite data were provided to all the participants
for hands-on training in image processing. All the hands-on exercise was practiced after
theoretical concepts of remote sensing. Participants were given step-by-step instructions in
image processing using ERMapper software. The user manuals and online help were
provided to the participants for easy references and self understanding. The hands-on were
basically on handling an image in software, visual image interpretation, geometric
correction, image classification techniques like unsupervised classification, supervised
classification, image fusion etc. using ASTER satellite data. In addition, the ArcView
software was also demonstrated for DEM analysis from digitized contour maps with GPS
based point elevation values.

The remote sensing and GIS data sources were demonstrated using online internet
explorer. In this demonstration, participants were familiarized with how to obtained
remote sensing and GIS data from different sources.

4.3. Summary of Daily Training Activities

Day 1: The first day of the training started with a lecture on GIS by Dr. Lal Samarakoon,
Director, GIC-AIT. In his lecture, he introduced the basics of GIS, importance of GIS and
discussion on spatial and surface analysis. He covered wide concepts of GIS like spatial
data types such as raster data, vector data (points, lines, areas). The data model represents
a set of guidelines to convert the real world (called entity) to the digitally and logically
represented spatial objects consisting of the attributes and geometry. Raster analysis like
spatial transformations, spatial coincidence, proximity, surface analysis, dispersion and
least cost path were also taught. He then mentioned about the methods for creating a
surface – raster and interpolation methods like TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network) and
kriging. The lecture conclude with a brief description on the application of GIS in various
real-world applications of remote sensing.

12
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

In the afternoon session, participants were provided with hands-on training on creating
digital elevation models using contour data in ArcView software. In addition, GPS based
spot data were also provided for DEM generation. Slope map, aspect map and flow
directions were also obtained for additional data analysis. This exercise followed by a
brief explanation on how DEM could be generated from remote sensing data like ASTER,
Quickbird etc. using different available commercial software packages.

This was followed by a lecture by Dr. Manzul Hazarika on electromagnetic radiation and
remote sensing. He explained the nature of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and its
interaction with the earth surface. An intuitive explanation about visible part of the EMR
in relation to the optical remote sensing was given to the participants. Theory of reflection,
absorption, and transmission were presented and the concept of atmospheric windows was
also introduced to the participants. The basic spectral signatures of the objects were also
introduced and this was practiced in ERMapper software in subsequent classes. This was
followed by a lecture on the basics elements of an orbit and the fundamentals of a sun-
synchronized satellite orbits used by the remote sensing satellites.

Day 2: The second day of the training started with an introductory lecture on datum and
map projection by Dr. Manzul Hazarika, GIC-AIT. A map projection defines the spatial
relationship between features on the earth’s surface (3D) and their representations on a
map (2D). It is a mathematical expression based on a sphere or spheroid, (conic,
cylindrical, or planar) which transforms the earth’s curved terrain to a flat surface. He
explained Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) as a coordinate system that divides the
globe into sixty zones, each spanning six degrees of longitude. This was followed by a
lecture by Mr. Bikash Ranjan Parida, GIC-AIT on the basic elements of image
interpretation. The eight elements used in image interpretation; size, shape, shadow, tone,
color, texture, pattern and associated relationship were explained with an example to the
participants. This was followed by a practical on visual interpretation on ASTER satellite
image. For this exercise all the participants were divided into two groups consisting of 15
participants in each group. A poster of ASTER image was used for visual interpretation
using page marker. Finally the results were compared between the two groups.

13
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

In the afternoon session, Mr. Parida explained about the data types, digital data format
(BSQ, BIL, BIP and Run-length encoding) and remote sensing data sources. This was
followed by online demonstration of data sources using internet explorer. Some of the
important websites that was used for demonstration purpose were;

https://www.eoc.jaxa.jp/iss/en/index.html,http://imsweb.aster.ersdac.or.jp/ims/cgi-
bin/dprSearchMapByMenu.pl, http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml,

Image processing techniques were then introduced to the participants using ERMapper
software in laboratory sessions. A step by step explanation was offered for processing of
ASTER images as in the exercise. In this exercise participants were introduced to
ERMapper software and its functionalities.

Day 3: The third day of the training started by Dr. Hazarika on theoretical concepts of
image classification techniques. He explained about the unsupervised and supervised
classification with their algorithms. This was followed by hands-on training for
classification techniques using ASTER satellite data. Mr. Parida demonstrated the
classification techniques in the software. The participants were trained on how to take
training sites in the satellite image and how to classify the images. Further, the training
sites were used for statistical analysis of different feature types like forest, agriculture,
water, built-up area, and fallow land. The mean digital number (DN) values were also
used for plotting the spectral signatures of forest, agriculture, water, built-up area, wet soil
and fallow land.

In the afternoon session, Mr. Rittick Borah, GIC-AIT explained the image fusion
techniques using high resolution panchromatic satellite image and low resolution MSS
image. This was followed by practical exercise on image fusion in ERMapper using
Quickbird satellite images.

Day 4: The fourth day of the training started with a lecture by Mr. Borah on the
techniques of damage assessment associated with earthquake and tsunami. He explained
the details of tsunami damage assessment by taking an example of Galle city, Sri Lanka
after December 2004, Tsunami event. The role of remote sensing on damage assessment
was also covered in brief. In the afternoon session, Mr. Borah explained the geometric
correction for ASTER satellite data using ERMapper.

14
 RS and GIS for Landslide Mapping - Philippines

5. TRAINING COURSE EVALUATION

Participants evaluated the training course as per the course evaluation form shown in
Appendix A. The summary of the participant’s evaluation of the training program is given
in the following table:

Table for showing the summary of the course evaluation

Indicators Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree
Course contents provided 16 7 - - -
important aspects of RS/GIS
Course materials were carefully 12 11 - - -
developed keeping the course
objectives in view
Data and materials developed for 8 15 - - -
hands-on training were
appropriate for the training
Hands-on training and support 10 13 - - -
provided by the instructors/staff
were sufficient
Training had provided an 15 8 - - -
opportunity to improve your
knowledge in RS/GIS and
applications

Overall program organization was 11 12 - - -

acceptable and satisfactory
JAXA’s support for capacity 11 12 - - -
building in your country through
the training was praiseworthy

Do you think that the training will be useful for technology transfer and capacity building
in your organization/country?
Yes - 23 participants
No - 0

It is evident from the summary that the opinions of all the participants’ highly fall under
the categories of “strongly agree” and “agree.” The training program was highly
successful in the context of course contents, materials used for training, hands-on, skills in
RS/GIS and JAXA efforts in capacity building programs. It could be concluded, therefore,
that the training program sponsored by JAXA had been highly successful in fulfilling the
expectation of the participants in support of their capacity building for disaster risk
reduction.

15