Images of the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy have captured the
immense power of what many experts have termed a “superstorm.” These
snapshots and videos might not tell the whole story, however. A group of
Drexel University engineers are now trying to give rescue and recovery
workers a better picture of the storm’s damages that can’t be seen by
the naked eye.
Using a combination of images from satellites and remote controlled
aircrafts and cameras equipped with infrared and ultraviolet technology,
the researchers are hoping to paint a detailed picture of Sandy’s path
of destruction that could help emergency workers respond to the next
natural disaster.
“During Hurricane Sandy, 7.5 million power outages were reported and
thousands of people were still without power weeks after the hurricane,”
said Dr. Anu Pradhan an assistant professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering
and the lead researcher on the National Science Foundation-funded
research team. “This is due to the massive destruction, it’s difficult
to see the full scope of it by walking through the sites, we need a
broader picture that shows the various layers of damage both seen and
unseen.”
Infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) imaging technology, combined with
acoustic emission (AE) testing can reveal damages to power lines, trees,
telephone poles and buildings that appeared to be unscathed.
“Infrared and ultraviolet cameras can capture radiation that is not visible to the naked eye,” said Dr. Ivan Bartoli,
an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and a
co-researcher for the project. “Different anomalies in power lines can
be observed using IR/UV imaging, in the future, using a combination of
high resolution satellite images and close-range aerial photography with
IR/UV filters, we could determine which power lines are working and
which are damaged.”
Acoustic emission testing uses sound waves to test the elasticity of
trees and telephone poles and can determine whether or not they’ve been
damaged internally to the point where they could be a falling hazard.
The team already has infrared, ultraviolet and acoustic emission
testing equipment at its disposal and has made several visits to
storm-damaged areas in New Jersey to take pictures and gather data. It
is also in the process of attaching it to a remote controlled aircraft
for low-altitude data collection. In addition, the engineers will make a
system to display the data on an aerial map of the area and algorithm
to help emergency responders triage their recovery efforts.
“In addition to the lives lost and destruction caused by Hurricane
Sandy, the residual effects are still very much with us,” said
co-researcher Dr. Antonios Kontsos,
an assistant professor in the College of Engineering. “Our goal is to
make sure that responders have even more information at their disposal
the next time something like this happens so that perhaps some of this
loss can be prevented.”