Disasters generate widespread damage and displacement, requiring scalable methods to track impact and recovery over time. This study introduces a unified nighttime lights (NTL) framework that integrates percent-based and difference-based metrics with a temporal point of
interest approach for continuous disaster assessment and area prioritisation. Using 12 years of NASA VIIRS VNP46A3 data, we analyse 281 barangays in Eastern Visayas, Philippines, affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013, capturing the full arc from impact to recovery. Results show severe losses (up to −148.3 nW/cm²/sr, −85.11%) and recovery trajectories extending over 11.5 years, with 57 barangays still below pre-disaster levels as of May 2025. The framework reveals long-term dynamics including displacement, resettlement, and infrastructure-driven gains, aligning with high-resolution imagery and reports. Beyond Haiyan, this approach provides a generalisable, data-driven system for disaster tracking, supporting evidence-based recovery planning and scalable prioritisation across Asia and beyond.

This study is part of the 46th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS) on 27-31 October 2025 in Makassar, Indonesia.

More information here.