A Machine Learning Approach to Flood Depth and Extent Detection Using Sentinel 1A/B Synthetic Aperture Radar

Abstract

The rising number of flooding events combined with increased urbanization is contributing to significant economic losses due to damages to structures and infrastructures. Here we present a method for producing all weather maps of flood inundation using a combination of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing data and machine learning methods that can be used to provide information on the evolution of flood hazards to DisasterAware©, a global alerting system, that is used to disseminate flood risk information to stakeholders across the globe. While these efforts are still in development, a case study is presented for the major flood event associated with Hurricane Harvey and associated floods that impacted Houston, TX in August of 2017.

Description

Keywords

Synthetic aperture radar, Flood characterization, Flood inundation, Machine learning, Geospatial data fusion

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