Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery
The ongoing 2023 Israel-Hamas War has severe and far-reaching consequences for the people, economy, food security, and environment. The immediate impacts of damage and destruction to cities and farms are apparent in widespread reporting and first-hand accounts from within the Gaza Strip. However, th...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Science of Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666017225000057 |
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| author | He Yin Lina Eklund Dimah Habash Mazin B. Qumsiyeh Jamon Van Den Hoek |
| author_facet | He Yin Lina Eklund Dimah Habash Mazin B. Qumsiyeh Jamon Van Den Hoek |
| author_sort | He Yin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The ongoing 2023 Israel-Hamas War has severe and far-reaching consequences for the people, economy, food security, and environment. The immediate impacts of damage and destruction to cities and farms are apparent in widespread reporting and first-hand accounts from within the Gaza Strip. However, there is a lack of comprehensive assessment of the war's impacts on key Gazan agricultural land that are vital for immediate humanitarian concerns during the ongoing war and for long-term recovery. In the Gaza Strip, agriculture is arguably one of the most important land use systems. However, remote detection of damage to Gazan agriculture is challenged by the diverse agronomic landscapes and small farm sizes. This study uses multi-resolution satellite imagery to monitor damage to tree crops and greenhouses, the most important agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. Our methodology involved several key steps: First, we generated a pre-war cropland map, distinguishing between tree crops (e.g., olives) and greenhouses, using a random forest (RF) model and the Segment Anything Model (SAM) on nominally 3-m PlanetScope and 50-cm Planet SkySat imagery, obtained from 2022 to 2023. Second, we assessed damage to tree crop fields due to the war, employing a harmonic model-based time series analysis using PlanetScope imagery. Third, we assessed the damage to greenhouses by classifying PlanetScope imagery using a random forest model. We performed accuracy assessments on a generated tree crop fields damage map using 1,200 randomly sampled 3 × 3-m areas, and we generated error-adjusted area estimates with a 95% confidence interval. To validate the generated greenhouse damage map, we used a random sampling-based analysis. We found that 64–70% of tree crop fields and 58% of greenhouses had been damaged by 27 September 2024, after almost one year of war in the Gaza Strip. Agricultural land in Gaza City and North Gaza were the most heavily damaged with 90% and 73% of tree crop fields damaged in each governorate, respectively. By the end of 2023, all greenhouses in North Gaza and Gaza City had been damaged. Our damage estimate overall agrees with that from UNOSAT but provides more detailed and accurate information, such as the timing of the damage as well as fine-scale changes. Our results attest to the severe impacts of the Israel-Hamas War on Gaza's agricultural sector with direct relevance for food security and economic recovery needs. Due to the rapid progression of the war, we have made the latest damage maps and area estimates available on GitHub (https://github.com/hyinhe/Gaza). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c22680491898405ca933073abbcf963e |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2666-0172 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Science of Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-c22680491898405ca933073abbcf963e2025-08-20T02:07:56ZengElsevierScience of Remote Sensing2666-01722025-06-011110019910.1016/j.srs.2025.100199Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imageryHe Yin0Lina Eklund1Dimah Habash2Mazin B. Qumsiyeh3Jamon Van Den Hoek4Department of Geography, Kent State University, 325 South Lincoln Street, Kent, OH, 44242, USA; Corresponding author.Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, 223 62, Lund, Sweden; Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), Lund University, 22362, Lund, Sweden; United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), 225 East Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill, ON, L4B 3P4, CanadaSecurewheat Consultancy, Hertfordshire, St Albans, AL3 5RQ, United KingdomPalestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS), Bethlehem University, Bethlehem, PalestineGeography Program, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 101 SW 26th St, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USAThe ongoing 2023 Israel-Hamas War has severe and far-reaching consequences for the people, economy, food security, and environment. The immediate impacts of damage and destruction to cities and farms are apparent in widespread reporting and first-hand accounts from within the Gaza Strip. However, there is a lack of comprehensive assessment of the war's impacts on key Gazan agricultural land that are vital for immediate humanitarian concerns during the ongoing war and for long-term recovery. In the Gaza Strip, agriculture is arguably one of the most important land use systems. However, remote detection of damage to Gazan agriculture is challenged by the diverse agronomic landscapes and small farm sizes. This study uses multi-resolution satellite imagery to monitor damage to tree crops and greenhouses, the most important agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. Our methodology involved several key steps: First, we generated a pre-war cropland map, distinguishing between tree crops (e.g., olives) and greenhouses, using a random forest (RF) model and the Segment Anything Model (SAM) on nominally 3-m PlanetScope and 50-cm Planet SkySat imagery, obtained from 2022 to 2023. Second, we assessed damage to tree crop fields due to the war, employing a harmonic model-based time series analysis using PlanetScope imagery. Third, we assessed the damage to greenhouses by classifying PlanetScope imagery using a random forest model. We performed accuracy assessments on a generated tree crop fields damage map using 1,200 randomly sampled 3 × 3-m areas, and we generated error-adjusted area estimates with a 95% confidence interval. To validate the generated greenhouse damage map, we used a random sampling-based analysis. We found that 64–70% of tree crop fields and 58% of greenhouses had been damaged by 27 September 2024, after almost one year of war in the Gaza Strip. Agricultural land in Gaza City and North Gaza were the most heavily damaged with 90% and 73% of tree crop fields damaged in each governorate, respectively. By the end of 2023, all greenhouses in North Gaza and Gaza City had been damaged. Our damage estimate overall agrees with that from UNOSAT but provides more detailed and accurate information, such as the timing of the damage as well as fine-scale changes. Our results attest to the severe impacts of the Israel-Hamas War on Gaza's agricultural sector with direct relevance for food security and economic recovery needs. Due to the rapid progression of the war, we have made the latest damage maps and area estimates available on GitHub (https://github.com/hyinhe/Gaza).http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666017225000057Armed conflictsIsrael–Hamas warAgricultureArtificial intelligenceDeep learningTree crops |
| spellingShingle | He Yin Lina Eklund Dimah Habash Mazin B. Qumsiyeh Jamon Van Den Hoek Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery Science of Remote Sensing Armed conflicts Israel–Hamas war Agriculture Artificial intelligence Deep learning Tree crops |
| title | Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery |
| title_full | Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery |
| title_short | Evaluating war-induced damage to agricultural land in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 using PlanetScope and SkySat imagery |
| title_sort | evaluating war induced damage to agricultural land in the gaza strip since october 2023 using planetscope and skysat imagery |
| topic | Armed conflicts Israel–Hamas war Agriculture Artificial intelligence Deep learning Tree crops |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666017225000057 |
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