Research Team:
Insitution: University of Alabama - Huntsville
Start Date: August 1, 2022 | End Date: July 31, 2023
Research Theme: Water Prediction Systems and Workflows
The mapping of flood inundation extent during and after a significant flooding event is an important step in the evaluating how well flood forecasts predict the risk of severe weather. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, provide a unique capability for rapid, on-demand deployment to collect high resolution imagery in to help validate flood forecasts while also helping first responders understand the extent of flood damage. This CIROH subproject aims to develop a data collection and image processing workflow to detect surface water flooding for efficient validation of forecasted inundation extent. The UAS workflow involves a multi-tiered remote sensing approach which incorporates digital elevation models (DEM), aerial survey maps, and multispectral remote sensing to define flood inundation extents for large geographic areas. A key aspect of this subproject aims to demonstrate the use of imagery and data products into the National Water Model (NWM) modeling evaluation services used by the National Water Center (NWC) to improve emergency forecast techniques.