Operational Monitoring and Damage Assessment of Riverine Flood-2014 in the Lower Chenab Plain, Punjab, Pakistan, Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Asif Sajjad,Hammad Hassan,Xiaoling Chen,Nayyer Saleem,Jianzhong Lu,Chikondi Chisenga

doi:10.3390/rs12040714

Abstract

In flood-prone areas, the delineation of the spatial pattern of historical flood extents, damage assessment, and flood durations allow planners to anticipate potential threats from floods and to formulate strategies to mitigate or abate these events. The Chenab plain in the Punjab region of Pakistan is particularly prone to flooding but is understudied. It experienced its worst riverine flood in recorded history in September 2014. The present study applies Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques to estimate the riverine flood extent and duration and assess the resulting damage using Landsat-8 data. The Landsat-8 images were acquired for the pre-flooding, co-flooding, and post-flooding periods for the comprehensive analysis and delineation of flood extent, damage assessment, and duration. We used supervised classification to determine land use/cover changes, and the satellite-derived modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) to detect flooded areas and duration. The analysis permitted us to calculate flood inundation, damages to built-up areas, and agriculture, as well as the flood duration and recession. The results also reveal that the floodwaters remained in the study area for almost two months, which further affected cultivation and increased the financial cost. Our study provides an empirical basis for flood response assessment and rehabilitation efforts in future events. Thus, the integrated RS and GIS techniques with supporting datasets make substantial contributions to flood monitoring and damage assessment in Pakistan.

Highlights

Flood disasters are among the most frequent and destructive of all-natural disasters, posing a potential threat to life and property
We presented a low cost and user-friendly flood monitoring and damage assessment with the integration of open access optical remote sensing and appropriate processing methods jointly exploited with field data
The classified images and inundation mapping produced an excellent overall accuracy of about 90%, which is validated and shows reliable results. we conclude that these methods have been proven to be useful for estimating and understanding a future flood phenomenon with its diverse impacts

Summary

Introduction

Flood disasters are among the most frequent and destructive of all-natural disasters, posing a potential threat to life and property. Human lives, agricultural activities, and infrastructures are seriously affected by shattering flood disasters around the globe [1,2,3]. In the past three decades, flood disasters affected nearly 2.8 billion people and resulted in over 200,000 causalities with substantial damages to property and economy [4]. Climate change and rapid population increases in floodplains enforce and boost the frequency and magnitude of riverine flood damages [6,7]. As flood disasters increase in magnitude, the Asian region continues to face a large number of flood hazards and associated losses in lives and all kinds of infrastructure and economic progress [4,7]. The south Asia region has been experiencing intense flooding with increased frequency, especially in Pakistan [8,9,10]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion