Immediately after the sunrise Saturday, the satellite installed its distant camera on Mandalay in Myanmar, near the epicenterEarthquake on Friday 7.7 Magnetthat devastated the country southeast AsiaThe second largest city.
The mission consisted of grab the images that are combined withArtificial intelligence technologyThey could help organizations rapidly evaluate how many buildings had fallen or were badly damaged, and where the assistants should be most to go.
At first, the approach to the computer vision of a high -tech vision did not work.
“The biggest problem in this particular case was the clouds,” said Microsoft Chief Scientist Juan Lavisto. “There is no way to look through the clouds with this technology.”
After all, the clouds moved, and it took a few more hours to seize the ae-photo and send them to Microsoft’s Labs for another satellite from the San Francisco LaboratoryCharitable II for a good laboratory. By then, at about 11 pm on Friday, Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft workers’ group was ready and waited for the data.
AI for Good Lab made such an assessment of damage that leads to AI before, trackingCatastrophic floods of LibyaIn 2023 eitherThis year’s forest firesIn Los -egeles. But instead of relying on the standard AI Computer Vision model, which could launch any visual data, they had to create an individual version characteristic of Mandalay.
“Earth is too different, natural disasters are too different, and the images we get from satellites are too different to work in every situation,” said Lavist Forres. For example, he said, while the fires spread quite predictably, the “earthquake touches the whole city”, and it can be more difficult to find out when needing help.
OnceAI analysis was completedIt showed 515 buildings in the mandalai from 80% to 100% damage and another 1524 from 20% to 80% damage. That showedA wide gravity of disasterBut just as important, it helps to determine certain damage places.
“This is important information for teams on Earth,” Lavisto Forres said.
Microsoft warned that it “should serve as a preliminary guide and will require inspections on the ground for a complete understanding.” Meanwhile, the technology company shared the analysis with help groups such as the Red Cross.
The planet laboratory says that its companions – 15, which revolve for the ground – now photographed about a dozen places in Myanmar and Thailand from the earthquake on Friday.
Originally this story was presented on Fortune.com
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2025-03-31 20:34:00
The Associated Press, Matt O’Brien
