Kansas City Disasters II: Analyzing Precipitation and Land Cover Data to Refine the Assessment of Urban Flood Vulnerability
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Nora Carmody↗
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Development and Implementation of Real-Time Information Delivery Systems for Emergency Management
The disaster management community has an on-going need for real-time data and information, especially during catastrophic events. Currently, twin engine or jet aircraft with limited altitude and duration capabilities collect much of the data. Flight safety is also an issue. Clearly, much of the needed data could be delivered via over-the-horizon transfer through a uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAV) platform to mission managers at various locations on the ground. In fact, because of the ability to stay aloft for long periods of time, and to fly above dangerous situations, UAV's are ideally suited for disaster missions. There are numerous situations that can be considered disastrous for the human population. Some, such as fire or flood, can continue over a period of days. Disaster management officials rely on data from the site to respond in an optimum way with warnings, evacuations, rescue, relief, and to the extent possible, damage control. Although different types of disasters call for different types of response, most situations can be improved by having visual images and other remotely sensed data available. "Disaster Management" is actually made up of a number of activities, including: - Disaster Prevention and Mitigation - Emergency Response Planning - Disaster Management (real-time deployment of resources, during an event) - Disaster / Risk Modeling All of these activities could benefit from real-time information, but a major focus for UAV-based technology is in real-time deployment of resources (i.e., emergency response teams), based on changing conditions at the location of the event. With all these potential benefits, it is desirable to demonstrate to user agencies the ability to perform disaster management missions as described. The following demonstration project is the first in a program designed to prove the feasibility of supporting disaster missions with UAV technology and suitable communications packages on-board. A several-year program is envisioned, in which a broad range of disaster-related activities are demonstrated to the appropriate user communities.
Wegener, Steve↗
Flood Extent Mapping for Namibia Using Change Detection and Thresholding with SAR
A new method for flood detection change detection and thresholding (CDAT) was used with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery to delineate the extent of flooding for the Chobe floodplain in the Caprivi region of Namibia. This region experiences annual seasonal flooding and has seen a recent renewal of severe flooding after a long dry period in the 1990s. Flooding in this area has caused loss of life and livelihoods for the surrounding communities and has caught the attention of disaster relief agencies. There is a need for flood extent mapping techniques that can be used to process images quickly, providing near real-time flooding information to relief agencies. ENVISAT/ASAR and Radarsat-2 images were acquired for several flooding seasons from February 2008 to March 2013. The CDAT method was used to determine flooding from these images and includes the use of image subtraction, decision based classification with threshold values, and segmentation of SAR images. The total extent of flooding determined for 2009, 2011 and 2012 was about 542 km2, 720 km2, and 673 km2 respectively. Pixels determined to be flooded in vegetation were typically <0.5 % of the entire scene, with the exception of 2009 where the detection of flooding in vegetation was much greater (almost one third of the total flooded area). The time to maximum flooding for the 2013 flood season was determined to be about 27 days. Landsat water classification was used to compare the results from the new CDAT with SAR method; the results show good spatial agreement with Landsat scenes.
Flood↗
Using Social Media and Mobile Devices to Discover and Share Disaster Data Products Derived From Satellites
Data products derived from Earth observing satellites are difficult to find and share without specialized software and often times a highly paid and specialized staff. For our research effort, we endeavored to prototype a distributed architecture that depends on a standardized communication protocol and applications program interface (API) that makes it easy for anyone to discover and access disaster related data. Providers can easily supply the public with their disaster related products by building an adapter for our API. Users can use the API to browse and find products that relate to the disaster at hand, without a centralized catalogue, for example floods, and then are able to share that data via social media. Furthermore, a longerterm goal for this architecture is to enable other users who see the shared disaster product to be able to generate the same product for other areas of interest via simple point and click actions on the API on their mobile device. Furthermore, the user will be able to edit the data with on the ground local observations and return the updated information to the original repository of this information if configured for this function. This architecture leverages SensorWeb functionality [1] presented at previous IGARSS conferences. The architecture is divided into two pieces, the frontend, which is the GeoSocial API, and the backend, which is a standardized disaster node that knows how to talk to other disaster nodes, and also can communicate with the GeoSocial API. The GeoSocial API, along with the disaster node basic functionality enables crowdsourcing and thus can leverage insitu observations by people external to a group to perform tasks such as improving water reference maps, which are maps of existing water before floods. This can lower the cost of generating precision water maps. Keywords-Data Discovery, Disaster Decision Support, Disaster Management, Interoperability, CEOS WGISS Disaster Architecture
0↗
Application of Earth Observation Data for Improved Environmental and Disaster Monitoring in Central America
Since its establishment in 1991, the Central American Integration System (SICA, in Spanish) has served as a force for integrating the eight countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic, and in recent years, SICA’s General Secretariat and its various technical secretariats have focused on integrating Earth observations into various regional and national processes. In 2019, for instance, a joint statement was signed between SICA’s General Secretariat and NASA, toward strengthening the region’s use of Earth observations. SICA has also pursued cooperation with the Group on Earth Observations’ AmeriGEO regional initiative, the Japanese Aerospace Agency (JAXA), the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), and the Copernicus program, among others. Just in the framework of the NASA-SICA Joint Statement, and towards the goal of strengthening the region’s use of Earth observations across sectors, a large number of training webinars has been conducted, particularly benefiting national institutions, non-governmental organizations, and universities. Additionally, targeted support has been provided in the areas of environmental monitoring and disaster management. From 2019 through 2021, for instance, a number of feasibility studies were implemented by NASA’s DEVELOP program in collaboration with SICA technical secretariats. In 2020, in response to devastating Hurricanes Eta and Iota, the SERVIR program also provided support for extending the HYDRAFloods algorithm which had been originally developed for the Mekong to Central America. Support is also being provided toward monitoring land cover change across the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. In the framework of the “observing the Earth for the benefit of all” theme, this presentation will also focus on how Central America can serve as a case study for the development of Earth observation capacity, applicable to other regions of the world.
applied sciences↗
Co-developing Earth observations-driven solutions for disaster risk reduction: a case study and where we could go from here
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Earth observations↗
International Space Station Data Collection for Disaster Response
Natural disasters - including such events as tropical storms, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, and wildfires -effect hundreds of millions of people worldwide, and also cause billions of dollars (USD) in damage to the global economy. Remotely sensed data acquired by orbital sensor systems has emerged as a vital tool to identify the extent of damage resulting from a natural disaster, as well as providing near-real time mapping support to response efforts on the ground and humanitarian aid efforts. The International Space Station (ISS) is a unique terrestrial remote sensing platform for acquiring disaster response imagery. Unlike automated remote-sensing platforms it has a human crew; is equipped with both internal and externally-mounted remote sensing instruments; and has an inclined, low-Earth orbit that provides variable views and lighting (day and night) over 95 percent of the inhabited surface of the Earth. As such, it provides a useful complement to free-flyer based, sun-synchronous sensor systems in higher altitude polar orbits. While several nations have well-developed terrestrial remote sensing programs and assets for data collection, many developing nations do not have ready access to such resources. The International Charter, Space and Major Disasters (also known as the "International Disaster Charter", or IDC; http://www.disasterscharter.org/home) addresses this disparity. It is an agreement between agencies of several countries to provide - on a best-effort basis - remotely sensed data of natural disasters to requesting countries in support of disaster response. The lead US agency for interaction with the IDC is the United States Geological Survey (USGS); when an IDC request or "activation" is received, the USGS notifies the science teams for NASA instruments with targeting information for data collection. In the case of the ISS, the Earth Sciences and Remote Sensing (ESRS) Unit, part of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate and supporting the ISS Program Science Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center, receives notification from the USGS and coordinates targeting and data collection with the NASA ISS sensor teams. If data is collected, it is passed back to the USGS for posting on their Hazards Data Distribution System and made available for download. The ISS International Partners (CSA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos/Energia) have their own procedures for independently supporting IDC activations using their assets on ISS, and there is currently no joint coordination with NASA ISS sensor teams. Following completion of ISS assembly, NASA remote sensing assets began collecting IDC response data in May 2012. The initial NASA ISS sensor systems available to respond to IDC activations included the ISS Agricultural Camera (ISSAC), an internal multispectral visible-near infrared wavelength system mounted in the Window Observational Research Facility, or WORF; the Crew Earth Observations (CEO) Facility, where the crew collects imagery through Station windows using off-the-shelf handheld digital visible-wavelength cameras; and the Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Oceans (HICO), a visible to near-infrared system mounted externally on the Japan Experiment Module Exposed Facility. The ISSAC completed its primary mission and was removed from the WORF in January 2013. It was replaced by the very high resolution ISS SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System (ISERV) Pathfinder, a visible-wavelength digital camera, telescope, and pointing system. Since the start of IDC response by NASA sensors on the ISS in May 2012 and as of this report, there have been eighty IDC activations; NASA sensor systems have collected data for twenty-three of these events. Of the twenty-three successful data collections, five involved 2 or more ISS sensor systems responding to the same event. Data has also been collected by International Partners in response to natural disasters, most notably JAXA and Roscosmos/Energia through the Urugan program. Data collected in response to IDC activations is delivered by the ISS sensor teams to the ESRS for quality review and transfer to the USGS, where it is ingested into the Hazards Data Distribution System, or HDDS (https://hdds.usgs.gov/hdds2/; figure 1). This system allows the local agencies that issued the IDC activation request to review and download data. The data is then used to develop secondary products useful for humanitarian response such as flood maps. As of this report, approximately 1000 images collected by NASA ISS sensor systems have been downloaded from the HDDS, indicating that the ISS has assumed a valuable role in disaster response efforts. The ISS is also a unique platform in that it will have multiple users over its lifetime, and that no single remote sensing system has a permanent internal or external berth. This scheduled turnover provides for development of new remote sensing capabilities relevant to disaster response -as well as both research and applied science-and represents a significant contribution to continuance and enhancement of the NASA mission to investigate changes on our home planet.
Stefanov, William L.↗
Analysing the Advantages of High Temporal Resolution Geostationary MSG SEVIRI Data Compared to Polar Operational Environmental Satellite Data for Land Surface Monitoring in Africa
Since 1972, satellite remote sensing of the environment has been dominated by polar-orbiting sensors providing useful data for monitoring the earth s natural resources. However their observation and monitoring capacity are inhibited by daily to monthly looks for any given ground surface which often is obscured by frequent and persistent cloud cover creating large gaps in time series measurements. The launch of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite into geostationary orbit has opened new opportunities for land surface monitoring. The Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instrument on-board MSG with an imaging capability every 15 minutes which is substantially greater than any temporal resolution that can be obtained from existing polar operational environmental satellites (POES) systems currently in use for environmental monitoring. Different areas of the African continent were affected by droughts and floods in 2008 caused by periods of abnormally low and high rainfall, respectively. Based on the effectiveness of monitoring these events from Earth Observation (EO) data the current analyses show that the new generation of geostationary remote sensing data can provide higher temporal resolution cloud-free (less than 5 days) measurements of the environment as compared to existing POES systems. SEVIRI MSG 5-day continental scale composites will enable rapid assessment of environmental conditions and improved early warning of disasters for the African continent such as flooding or droughts. The high temporal resolution geostationary data will complement existing higher spatial resolution polar-orbiting satellite data for various dynamic environmental and natural resource applications of terrestrial ecosystems.
Fensholt, R.↗
A View from Above: Earth Observations
Since the 1960s, satellites have been looking down at the Earth to monitor weather patterns and track severe storms, observe how our land surface is changing and responding to hydrometerological extremes, and even to sense how the Earth's crust is deforming from earthquakes and volcanoes. Space and airborne platforms can provide unique views of the disaster lifecycle, informing pre-event mitigation and preparedness, emergency response following an event, and monitoring longer-term recovery. These remotely-sensed data, products and models can provide a global perspective to see beyond administrative boundaries, reach remote places where in situ observations are di cult or non-existent, and provide the necessary context and situational awareness to aid in disaster response. So how do these platforms work? Instruments aboard satellites use different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum to passively or actively observe energy across a range of wavelengths, which can be turned into meaningful data on geophysical, atmospheric, and hydrological variables. e US has had a broad range of Earth observation (EO) platforms delivering open data for scientific research and societal benefits for decades. e Landsat programme, a joint initiative between the US Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA, has the world's longest continuous collection of space-based satellite imagery of the Earth, extending from 1972 to present. e Landsat satellites provide visible, near infrared, and thermal data that are used to support emergency response and disaster relief by mapping changes in water during floods, and dramatic land surface changes, including those resulting from landslides, wild res, severe weather, volcanic plumes, and dust storms.
FEMA↗
Satellites Support Disaster Response to Storm-Driven Landslides
High winds and flooding storm surges driven by tropical cyclones cause some of the deadliest and most damaging weather-related conditions around the world. The rainfall that cyclones bring compounds these conditions and, in hilly or mountainous areas, can trigger landslides that cause even more widespread and devastating impacts. When extreme precipitation occurs over short time frames, hillslopes may become saturated and critically unstable. The most intense storms can trigger thousands of landslides in mountainous areas, as was dramatically illustrated in Puerto Rico in September 2017, when Hurricane Maria’s rains left the landscape scarred by roughly 40,000 landslides. Before and during a major cyclone, disaster responders need information about where landslides are likely to occur. In the aftermath, locating landslides quickly helps authorities direct resources to where they are most needed to save people and critical infrastructure. However, this information is often unavailable during an event response or is presented only for small regions, constraining the effectiveness of response efforts.
Robert Emberson↗
Utilization of Meteorological Satellite Imagery for World-Wide Environmental Monitoring the Lower Mississippi River Flood of 1979 - Case 1
The 1979 Lower Mississippi River flood was selected as a test case of environmental disaster monitoring utilizing NOAA-n imagery. A small scale study of the St. Louis Missouri area comparing ERTS-1 (LANDSAT) and NOAA-2 imagery and flood studies using only LANDSAT imagery for mapping the Rad River of the North, and Nimbus-5 imagery for East Australia show the nonmeteorological applications of NOAA satellites. While the level of NOAA-n imagery detail is not that of a LANDSAT image, for operational environmental monitoring users the NOAA-n imagery may provide acceptable linear resolution and spectral isolation.
Helfert, M. R.↗
Co-developing a SAR for Disasters Reference Guide for the International Applications Community
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data are widely applicable for disaster monitoring, especially in Central and South America where atmospheric effects are a frequent obstacle for disaster monitoring. There is a growing interest in the application of SAR data to diverse disasters, ranging from landslides to volcanic eruptions and floods. With this interest comes a growing need for user-friendly guides that facilitate the integration of SAR into existing workflows. A joint effort between AmeriGEO, university networks in the Americas, NASA SERVIR’s Science Coordination Office (SCO), and the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program, culminated in the “SAR for Disasters” Guide. The guide is modeled after the one-page informational sheets created for SERVIR’s SAR Handbook, with the aim to succinctly communicate the key considerations needed to apply relevant analyses using SAR. Developed with contributors from diverse backgrounds, this guide is designed to be a useful reference for experienced technical users and beginners alike.
SAR↗
Bangladesh Agro-Climatic Environmental Monitoring Project
The Agro-Climatic Environmental Monitoring Project (ACEMP) is based on a Participating Agency Service Agreement (PASA) between the Agency for International Development (AID) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In FY80, the Asia Bureau and Office of Federal Disaster Assistance (OFDA), worked closely to develop a funding mechanism which would meet Bangladesh's needs both for flood and cyclone warning capability and for application of remote sensing data to development problems. In FY90, OFDA provided for a High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) receiving capability to improve their forecasting accuracy for cyclones, flooding and storm surges. That equipment is primarily intended as a disaster prediction and preparedness measure. The ACEM Project was designed to focus on the development applications of remote sensing technology. Through this Project, AID provided to the Bangladesh Government (BDG) the equipment, technical assistance, and training necessary to collect and employ remote sensing data made available by satellites as well as hydrological data obtained from data collection platforms placed in major rivers. The data collected will enable the BDG to improve the management of its natural resources.
Vermillion, C.↗
Remote sensing of coastal environmental hazards
Examples of the application of NOAA High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) data to natural hazards and disasters are reviewed. The examples discussed include flooding of the Ganges River Delta; detecting effects of salt water intrusion into freshwater marshes; detecting fires, smoke plumes, and oil slicks; and monitoring of ocean currents and eddies. The present limitations of the HRPT data and future prospects are briefly discussed.
Huh, Oscar K.↗
Attitude Determination and Control Systems
In the year 1900, Galveston, Texas, was a bustling community of approximately 40,000 people. The former capital of the Republic of Texas remained a trade center for the state and was one of the largest cotton ports in the United States. On September 8 of that year, however, a powerful hurricane struck Galveston island, tearing the Weather Bureau wind gauge away as the winds exceeded 100 mph and bringing a storm surge that flooded the entire city. The worst natural disaster in United States history even today the hurricane caused the deaths of between 6000 and 8000 people. Critical in the events that led to such a terrible loss of life was the lack of precise knowledge of the strength of the storm before it hit. In 2008, Hurricane Ike, the third costliest hurricane ever to hit the United States coast, traveled through the Gulf of Mexico. Ike was gigantic, and the devastation in its path included the Turk and Caicos Islands, Haiti, and huge swaths of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Once again, Galveston, now a city of nearly 60,000, took the direct hit as Ike came ashore. Almost 200 people in the Caribbean and the United States lost their lives; a tragedy to be sure, but far less deadly than the 1900 storm. This time, people were prepared, having received excellent warning from the GOES satellite network. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites have been a continuous monitor of the world's weather since 1975, and they have since been joined by other Earth-observing satellites. This weather surveillance to which so many now owe their lives is possible in part because of the ability to point accurately and steadily at the Earth below. The importance of accurately pointing spacecraft to our daily lives is pervasive, yet somehow escapes the notice of most people. But the example of the lives saved from Hurricane Ike as compared to the 1900 storm is something no one should ignore. In this section, we will summarize the processes and technologies used in designing and operating spacecraft pointing (i.e. attitude) systems.
Starin, Scott R.↗
Satellite Gravimetry Improves Seasonal Streamflow Forecast Initialization in Africa
West Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world and highly vulnerable to extreme hydrological events due to the lack of reliable monitoring and forecast systems. For the first time, we demonstrate that initial hydrological conditions informed by satellite-based terrestrial water storage (TWS) estimates improve seasonal streamflow forecasts. TWS variability detected by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites is assimilated into a land surface model during 2003–2016 and used to initialize 6-month hindcasts (i.e., forecasts of past events) during West Africa's wet seasons. We find that GRACE data assimilation (DA) generally increases groundwater and soil moisture storage in the region, resulting in increased evapotranspiration and reduced total runoff. Total runoff is particularly lower at the headwaters of the Niger River, positively impacting streamflow simulations and hindcast initializations. Compared to simulations without GRACE-DA, hindcasts are notably improved at locations draining from large basin areas, in particular, over the Niger River basin, which is consistent with GRACE's coarse spatial resolution. The long memory of groundwater and deep soil moisture, two main TWS components updated by GRACE-DA, is reflected in prolonged improvements in the streamflow hindcasts. Model accuracy at Niamey, Niger, the most populated city where streamflow observations are available, improved up to 33% during the flood season. These new findings directly contribute to ongoing developments in food security, flood potential forecast, and water-related disaster warning systems for Africa.
Augusto Getirana↗