On November 7-8, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Samar
and Leyte provinces of the Philippines. One
of the hardest hit areas was the island of Leyte and its capital Tacloban
City. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal
Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra
satellite collected these false-color (near-infrared, red, green) images of
Tacloban City before and after Typhoon Haiyan that are featured below.
The ASTER image on the left (before) was collected on November 14,
2010. In the before image the urban
areas appear blue-grey, with distinct urban patterns of blocks, streets, and
the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport. The
vegetation appears bright red, and water is almost black. On the right is the ASTER image that was
collected after Typhoon Haiyan on November 15, 2013. The devastating typhoon leveled the city and
vegetation. Urban patterns were erased leaving
most of the city with a solid blue-gray appearance. Vegetated areas now appear light red where
vegetation was wiped out. Water still
looks black with visible pools of standing water on land.
Use the slider bar to compare Tacloban City before and after Typhoon Haiyan.
Before Image: ASTER image of Tacloban City acquired on
November 14, 2010.
Granule ID: AST_L1B_00311142010021654_11172010114750.hdf
After Image: ASTER image of Tacloban City acquired on November
15, 2013 after Typhoon Haiyan leveled the city.
Granule ID: AST_L1B_00311152013021056_11152013194736.hdf
Before Image: ASTER image of Tacloban City acquired on
November 14, 2010.
Granule ID: AST_L1B_00311142010021654_11172010114750.hdf
After Image: ASTER image of Tacloban City acquired on November
15, 2013 after Typhoon Haiyan leveled the city.
Granule ID: AST_L1B_00311152013021056_11152013194736.hdf
References
NASA Earth Observatory (2013, November 15) Evidence of Destruction in Tacloban, Philippines. Accessed March 12, 2014.
By Trocaire from Ireland (DSC_0974) CC-BY-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Material written by: Kari Beckendorf1
1 Innovate!, Inc., contractor to the U.S. Geological Survey, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. Work performed under USGS contract G10PC00044 for LP DAAC2.
2 LP DAAC Work performed under NASA contract NNG14HH33I.