1 Urban Classification of Metro Manila for Seismic Risk Assessment using Satellite Images

To evaluate seismic risk in an urban area, building inventory is necessary. However, a large amount of time and effort is required to develop building inventory by field surveys. Thus an easier method to develop building inventory is being sought with the aid of remote sensing technologies. For the first step to evaluate seismic vulnerability of Metro Manila, land use classification was carried out and the expansion of urban areas was studied using time series satellite imagery from Landsat. The densely built-up areas estimated from Landsat were compared with the GIS data, based on the aerial photographs of 1986. A high-resolution satellite image from IKONOS was also employed for microscopic urban modeling of Metro Mania. Using the normalized vegetation index and the texture of the image, a detailed classification of urban areas with respect to the density and height of buildings is being sought. Although this study is still preliminary, some conclusions on possible applications and limitation of satellite remote sensing will be drawn within EQTAP Phase II