Remote sensing data collected from drones, fixed-wing aircraft, and satellites have been used, in the context of Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), to quantify injuries and monitor the success and effectiveness of restoration projects. These platforms provide objective, repeatable, large-area measurements following oil spills, chemical releases, wildfires, and other disturbances. Remote sensing may be used to map open water oil sheens, shoreline oiling, vegetation die-off, wildlife presence, wetland structure, erosion, turbidity, recovery of habitats following disturbances, and pre-incident baselines. Further, elevation and structural datasets capture geomorphic and hydrological impacts and remote sensing can support long-term monitoring of restoration performance. Use of remote sensing platforms can also increase spatial coverage of assessments and reduce reliance on field sampling, reducing safety risks and costs. These measurements, among other things, may be used in the context of NRDA to define injury boundaries, quantify severity, and estimate other inputs for use in Habitat and Resource Equivalency Analyses (HEA and REA).

Although challenges exist (e.g., calibration, atmospheric effects, and ground-truthing), remote sensing has the potential to become a cornerstone of scientifically robust and legally defensible damage assessments. This talk will provide examples of the application of remote sensing in damage assessment, common challenges, and potential opportunities for future applications.