Monitoring refugee camp evolution and population dynamics in Dagahaley, Kenya, based on VHR satellite data

Caused by severe drought at the Horn of Africa and ongoing violent conflict in Somalia, more than 160,000 refugees arrived in Dadaab, Kenya, during Summer 2011, making the location the world's currently largest refugee camp complex. The enormous influx of people to the Dagahaley refugee camp, one of several camps in Dadaab, brought the camp registration to a halt. The number and spatial distribution of dwellings could hardly be observed on the ground due to time and security constraints. In the frame of a Cooperation Agreement (Memorandum of Understanding, MoU) with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Department of Geoinformatics-Z_GIS at the University of Salzburg monitored the camp evolution using very high resolution (VHR) optical satellite imagery and provided in-depth information for supporting efficient resource planning. Information on the amount and type of different dwelling structures and their spatial distribution were extracted by semi-automated object-based image analysis (OBIA) of multi-temporal WorldView-2 imagery (8 MS bands, 0.5 m GSD)