ASAR derived flood maps for flood propagation model calibration

P. Matgen, J. B. Henry, F. Pappenberger, L. Pfister, P. De Fraipont

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

During flood events Earth Observation (EO) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is able to provide valuable information on the spatial extent of inundations. With its multi-polarisation capacity, the ENVISAT ASAR instrument is now able to propose reliable data for maximum flood extent retrieval. These extents can be useful in calibrating and/or evaluating flood propagation models and their uncertainties. Models are currently calibrated with in situ measurements such as high water marks, photographs and flow velocities. Since these are point measurements, it may sometimes be difficult to relate this information to a highly spatially dependent phenomenon: flooding. It is shown that flood propagation model calibration and uncertainties evaluation can greatly benefit from EO derived information.

Original languageEnglish
Article number229
Pages (from-to)1627-1632
Number of pages6
JournalEuropean Space Agency, (Special Publication) ESA SP
Issue number572
Publication statusPublished - 29 Aug 2005

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