Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation Research Current projects
Flood detection and mapping from local to large-scale using Sentinel-1 data

Flood detection and mapping from local to large-scale using Sentinel-1 data

2023 flood in Lower Saxony mapped using Sentinel-1 data. Blue areas are identified flood areas and the background is a color composite of Sentinel-1 VV and VH polarizations.
Team:  M. Sulaiman Fayez Hotaki, M. Haghshenas Haghighi, M. Motagh
Year:  2022
Funding:  German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Duration:  Since 2022

Flooding is a major natural disaster that affects various regions globally, with significant impacts on human lives, infrastructure, and economies. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery offers key advantages for flood detection and monitoring, enabling continuous observation under all weather conditions, both day and night. This project utilizes SAR data alongside cloud computing platforms such as Google Earth Engine (GEE), enabling effective monitoring at multiple scales—from large regions, such as entire countries, to localized events. Using the Sentinel-1 data, an automated processing workflow to detect and delineate flood-affected areas is developed in this project. It provides timely and accurate flood extent maps, which are essential for emergency management, risk assessment, and post-disaster recovery. The outputs of the project enhance the effectiveness of flood monitoring services, offering valuable insights to authorities and organizations responsible for disaster response and flood risk management across various scales.