1. CEOS Flood Pilot: EO data requirements Stu Frye (NASA), Bob Kuligowski (NOAA) 26 February 2014

2. Floods
WHY? Most prevalent global disaster – largest number of events and largest number of people affected, greatest economic impact; EO can track flood waters, help better predicting affected areas and support prevention.
WHAT’S MISSING? Lots of rapid mapping for response today, but few operational, targeted or systematic acquisitions and little flood cycle management using EO. Full-cycle real- time flood monitoring using high resolution optical and radar data brings greatly improved accuracy. Application of EO globally is either at low resolution on large geographical zones or high resolution over limited areas on ad hoc basis; few linkages between global and regional efforts.
Increasing economic and human losses in the future due to the increase of extreme weather events  (x3 in 2100) combined to growing urban population (x2 in 2050)
Photo Telecom sans frontière

3. Flood Pilot Objectives
Application of satellite EO to the full cycle of flood management at global and regional/local scales by:
Objective A – Integrating information from existing near-real time global flood monitoring and modeling systems in a Global Flood Dashboard;
(higher temporal and lower spatial resolution)
Objective B – Delivering EO-based flood mitigation, warning and response products and services through regional end-to- end pilots in:
The Caribbean and Central America (with particular focus on Haiti);
Southern Africa, (including Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi);
Southeast Asia (with particular focus on the lower Mekong Basin and Java, Indonesia).
(higher spatial and lower temporal resolution)
Objective C – Encouraging regional in-country capacity to access EO data and integrate into operational systems and flood management practices.
Flood mapping for insurance industry in Calgary, Canada, June Image courtesy SERTIT.

4. Requirements for Objective A:
No new CEOS data commitment required for Objective A.
In order to develop the Global Flood Dashboard, the CEOS pilot will link existing systems addressing global flood monitoring, including:
Dartmouth Flood Observatory
NASA NRT Global MODIS Flood Mapping
Global Flood Monitoring System (University Maryland – TRMM GPM)
Global Flash Flood Guidance (NOAA/HRC)
Deltares Global Flood Observatory?
GDACS?
Other?
These systems are based on low spatial resolution (~ 250m - 1km or lower) high temporal resolution (daily or more frequent) observations. The data required are openly available from meteorological satellites or the MODIS sensor. The Dashboard does not produce new information, but offers a single point of entry to existing distributed systems and the ability to compare outputs in a common format. Validation and calibration over Objective B test areas and presentation through a common portal.

5. Requirements for Objective A:

6. Observation Requirement
Requirements for Objective B:
Objective
Type
Observation Requirement
Other Requirements

7. Priority areas for Objective B:
Using existing and new partnerships, develop flood monitoring products for flood mitigation, warning, response and recovery in the Caribbean/Central America, Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. Use these regional pilots to validate/calibrate lower resolution global flood products (from Objective A).

8. Requirements for Objective B (1/2):
On a regional basis, medium and high resolution optical and SAR imagery will allow much more detailed flood monitoring, and this will be used to validate global products in these regions. Total requirement is 500 SAR and 400 optical images each year over three years, beginning now (across all regions and all CEOS assets*).
Southern Africa:
Flood risk is from slow onset flooding in river basins
Instrument types:
Optical (high resolution)
SAR (fine beam C-band and X-band; L-band)
Specific band for SAR is not critical, but resolution varies
Number of acquisitions:
Dry season: one / year (~50 scenes* each to cover each region)
Wet season (November-March): daily immediately preceding a flood and throughout the flooding period (~6 weeks) for several affected areas; ~150 scenes* total / year/ region
* Total includes images made available through Charter Authorised Users

9. Requirements for Objective B (2/2):
Caribbean and Southeast Asia (Mekong and Western Java):
Flooding from intense rain events—usually hurricanes or typhoons
Instrument types:
Optical (high resolution) and SAR
X-band SAR
Number of acquisitions:
Dry season: one / year (~30 scenes* each to cover each region)
Wet season: daily during the period immediately before, during, and after each event (1-3 weeks depending on event duration); ~150 images* / year / region. Subsidence (Java) and landslide (Haiti) products will require ~24 X-band images* / site / year.
* Total includes images available through Charter Authorised Users

10. Data & other contributions for Objective B: (text in black TBC)
Contribution from ESA:
Sentinel-1 data over selected pilot targets in 2015, especially when these converge with seismic areas. Approximately 200 images (in coordination with RSAT-2).
Contribution from JAXA:
ALOS-2 images over Haiti (through Kal-Haiti project), and over Mekong and Western Java. Approximately 100 images
Contribution from CNES:
Access to the SPOT archive. New SPOT-5 and Pleiades acquisitions over flooded areas. Access to ANR KAL-Haiti database. Approximately 300 images (in addition to KAL-Haiti access).
Contribution from DLR:
Approximately 200 TSX images over flooded areas (in coordination with CSK). Acces to TanDEM-X DEM over Haiti and Western Java (already agreed through RASOR project). Also access over Zambezi?
Contribution from NASA:
EO-1 images over flooded areas. Approximately 600 images (in coordination with SPOT-5/Pleiades).
Contribution from ASI:
Approximately 400 images (in coordination with TSX), distributed as follows: in 2014, 24 images over Haiti, 72 images over Java for subsidence and rain induced landslide products. Subsidence images for 2015 and 2016 to be purchased through RASOR project. 100 images per year (2014/2015/2016) for flood extent monitoring – 40 in Haiti/Caribbean, 50 in Java/Mekong, 12 in Zambezi Basin.
Contribution from CSA:
Approximately 400 images (in coordination with Sentinel-1), as follows: 200 images in 2014 (100 in Central America/Caribbean, 100 in Southern Africa, 100 each in 2015 and 2016 (in Southern Africa).
Contribution from USGS:
Landsat-8 data over pilot areas (in coordination with EO-1 and SPOT-5/Pleiades). Approximately 300 images over
Contribution from NOAA:
Rainfall rate files derived from geostationary IR data to support HRC flash flood warning products over Haiti and Mekong.
[TEXT IN BLACK: DRAFT TEXT TO BE FINISHED BY CONTRIBUTOR]

11. How data will be exploited (Objective B):
Geographic Area
Product
Value Added Partner
Haiti
Flood extent maps, flood risk maps, landslide maps, flash flood guidance / threat maps, integrated risk assessment platform
SERTIT, CIMA, INGV, Altamira, CIMH, RASOR FP7, NOAA/HRC
Other Caribbean islands, Central America
Flood damage maps, change detection products, co-registered map overlays
CATHALAC, CIMH, NASA/GSFC
Namibia
Flood extent maps, flood warning products, co-registered map overlays
Namibia Hydrology Dept, Namibian Water Authority, NASA
Zambezi basin
Flood extent maps, flood forecast models, flood hazard maps, flood depth forecasts
Lippmann Institute (PAPARAZZI, HAZARD, WATCHFUL), DELTARES, NASA/JPL
Mekong
Flood extent maps, flood risk maps, flash flood guidance / threat maps
Mekong River Commission, NASA, NOAA/HRC, USGS, University of South Carolina, Texas A&M
Java (Bandung, Jakarta, Cilacap)
Flood risk maps, subsidence maps tied to flood risk, tsunami risk maps (Cilacap only), flood extent maps
SERTIT, Deltares, CIMA, Altamira, INGV, RASOR FP7
Products used by: national end users, civil protection agencies, World Bank, Red Cross, River Commissions (Kavango, Zambezi, Mekong)