4. Response · Impact mapping & contingency planning
Rapid post-event flood impact mapping
Identifies, within hours of satellite overpass, where flooding is and how many people and assets are affected, so responders can prioritise.
Coming soon
The problem
In the first days after a flood, responders need to know where the water is and who is affected. Optical imagery is usually blocked by cloud.
Planned approach
- Flood extent from Sentinel-1 radar (change detection against a dry reference), applied to a documented past event.
- Validated against Copernicus Emergency Management Service maps.
- Overlay with population, roads and health facilities to estimate affected people and cut-off services, aggregated by administrative unit.
Deliverable
An event dashboard: flood extent, impact statistics per district, and a reusable processing notebook.
- Tools
- Python · Sentinel-1 SAR processing · Google Earth Engine or openEO
- Open data
- Sentinel-1 · Sentinel-2 · Copernicus EMS (validation) · OpenStreetMap · WorldPop