Using night lights from space to assess disaster impacts and recovery

Theme: Environmental Management, Geography

Description: 

Tonga is a Pacific island nation prone to multiple hazard types. Just in the past 10 years, the main island of Tongatapu has been hit by a Category 4 cyclone Gita (Feb 2018), and an explosive volcanic eruption (Jan 2022) with a >10 m tsunami destroying all resorts on the NW tip as well as multiple villages. This project will assess the impacts and recovery time of these two events using satellite images (Planet, Sentinel-2) and night lights data (VIIRS), using a Before-After-Control-Impact study design.

Additional Information: Required background: GIS and remote sensing (essential), have completed at least one statistics course (or equivalent). Coding would help but is not essential. This project would suit a self-driven student with strong quantitative skills. This will be a 2-semester-long project (Honours or Masters), preferably starting in 2026 Semester 1.

Contact: Dr Annie Lau and Dr Noam Levin