Exploring the potential for near real-time, nationwide mapping of floods using satellites.
Flood observations are generally limited to visual sightings and social media and news reports. A lack of detailed information across the large areas affected by major events limits the efficiency of flood response.
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites have the ability to detect flood water at a spatial resolution of 10 metres. Previous research has developed flood mapping algorithms that are:
(1) applied globally and are thus not optimised for UK conditions
(2) aimed at specific UK landscapes (rural, semi-rural, urban), but only for specific case studies, which are not easy to generalise.
In this project we explored the potential for a nationwide flood mapping service for both near real-time monitoring during major events and for the creation of detailed historical flood records.
A workshop with potential users highlighted a wide range of additional applications for satellite-observed flood mapping. These include understanding flood risk, informing and justifying flood management schemes and improving the efficiency of flood insurance claims.
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We developed a proof-of-concept algorithm to detect floods from satellite observations over the UK. Dense urban and forested areas are examples of land types where it is challenging to detect floods, and which require further research and development
The next steps are to further develop a generic detection algorithm, so it can be applied rapidly to any size region of the UK.
By 2030, future satellite launches will provide sub-daily observations over the UK. We aim to have a fully functioning flood detection algorithm ready for the timely implementation of a near real-time UK monitoring system.
iCASP Project Team
Project lead: Prof Cathryn Birch, University of Leeds
Daniel Sefton, Dr Tom Ingleby, SatSense
Prof Tim Wright, Prof Andy Hooper, Prof Mark Trigg, University of Leeds
Partners
Jonathan Moxon, Leeds City Council
Helen Jackson, ClimateNode
Duration
September 2023 – April 2024
You can read the project’s final report here