Flood Monitoring and Damage Assessment Using UAV

Abstract

The magnitude and frequency of water-related disasters, such as torrential rainfall and typhoons, have been rapidly increasing due to climate change, causing massive casualties and property damages. A rapid and accurate investigation of flood damage is critical for efficient disaster management. However, flood damage investigations, such as flood inundation surveys or property damage surveys, takes considerable time to be completed in South Korea. This study suggests a flood monitoring process using drones, which has been fostered as one of the core industries in South Korea for its technological advancement and utilization. The process of drone-based flood monitoring includes sensor installation, flight plan, video recording and downloading, video connection, extraction of flood area extents, and application to the actual flood event in July 2020. The findings in this study suggest improvements on used drones, legal rules and regulations and solutions to technical issues with drones. Despite various limitations and problems, drone-based flood monitoring can help provide assistance in efficient disaster management through fast monitoring and verification of inundated areas.