Abstract
ABSTRACTThe state of Jammu and Kashmir in North India experienced one of the worst floods in the past 60 years, during the first week of September 2014. In the present study, multi-temporal synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images acquired from Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite RISAT-1 and Canadian satellite Radarsat-2 during the peak flood period (08th–23rd September 2014) are used for extraction of flood disaster footprints, mapping spatial and temporal dynamics of flood inundation and assessing the disaster impact. With the aid of pre- and post-flood satellite images, coupled with hydro-meteorological data, the unprecedented flood situation is analyzed. It is estimated that about 557 km2 of the Kashmir Valley's geographical area was inundated. Bandipora, Pulwama, Srinagar, Baramulla and Budgam were the worst flood affected districts, having more than 50 km2 of their area affected by flood waters. Of the total inundated area, about 80% of the area under agricultural activity was submerged, followed by built-up areas constituting about 12% of geographical area. About 22 lakh people in 287 villages were affected by floods. The flood waters persisted in the northern and central part of the valley for more than two weeks.
Highlights
Floods are among the most frequent and catastrophic natural disasters occurring around the globe (Berz et al 2001) and seriously impacting human lives and infrastructure
But with advanced technologies their impact can be minimized and during catastrophic flood disasters, like the Jhelum floods, satellites can play a major role in mapping and monitoring the flood situation
Indian Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1) with C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has emerged as the major workhorse for space-based monitoring of flood disasters, because of the quick revisit and the ability to see through the clouds and observe the Earth at any time of the day
Summary
Floods are among the most frequent and catastrophic natural disasters occurring around the globe (Berz et al 2001) and seriously impacting human lives and infrastructure. In the form of floods and debris flows, are a major threat to the people living in the high mountain regions (Watson & Haeberli 2004). During the last few decades, there has been an increase in the frequency of catastrophic flood disasters in the mountainous regions of the world (Sepulveda & Padilla 2008; Korup & Clague 2009). Floods have been singled out as a major physical threat to sustainable development in the Himalayas (Ives 2004). The assessment of extreme weather floods for understanding the land surface and hydrological interaction processes is often hindered in the Himalayan region because of the inadequacy of the longterm hydrological data from well-distributed gauge stations and the complex nature of the terrain
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