The Government of Vanuatu has just released new high-resolution aerial imagery into OpenAerialMap. After Cyclone Pam, a Category 5 storm that caused major damage across Vanuatu in March 2015, assessment teams needed access to imagery to understand the extent of the damage. The Vanuatu government worked with the World Bank and the Humanitarian UAV Network (UAViators) to use humanitarian drones to collect imagery in over 30 areas of the islands. We’ve worked with the teams over the last week to start to import the imagery and make it available on OAM. Cycle maps Edit descriptiondevelopmentseed.org

Tools like OAM to search and access drone imagery matter when conducting assessments. The damage assessment teams in Vanuatu needed quick access to imagery to understand the extent of the damage. OAM is now providing the tools to search and find this imagery to make it easier for future assessment teams to focus more on the analysis and less on the challenges of sharing large datasets.

We’ve just started the import so expect to see more imagery online soon. Thanks to Patrick Meier and Keiko Saito for helping import the imagery into OAM and also to the UAV teams, Heliwest and X-Craft, for carrying out the UAV flights. See all the new images across the islands of Vanuatu on OAM..