Improving flood warnings by space observations

Floods are natural phenomena that cause a lot of damage to infrastructure, including houses and agricultural fields, and can even cost lives.

Due to climate change, floods are becoming more severe and more frequent. As such, it is important to have good flood models that predict these events.

What we do

Since models are only an approximation of reality, they need to be adjusted with observations. Satellites offer the unique opportunity to observe an entire flood by means of only one image.

Our focus lies in two aspects:

1. We aim at optimally extracting information from satellite images
2. We set up a framework to integrate this information into flood models.

When successful, flood observations from satellite platforms can contribute to identifying affected areas. Moreover, by integrating those observations into a model, flood predictions are improved.

Impact

As a result, people living in areas at risk can be warned in time and necessary actions can be taken, while targeted help can be sent to affected areas.

Contact

• Prof. Niko Verhoest