Active Archive of Large Floods, 1985-Present
Master Index of Inundation Maps
Space-based Measurement and Modeling of Surface Water
For Research, Humanitarian, and Water Management ApplicationsFlood Observatory Director: Prof. G. Robert Brakenridge
Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System
University of Colorado, Campus Box 450, Boulder, CO 80309 USAExample of Rapid Response mapping: DFO-4046, Argentina, April 4, 2013
Guide to the Surface Water Survey (click on map above for individual map displays)
Access to Experimental Satellite-based River Discharge Measurements
(counting since February 7, 2012)
Surface Water Runoff Measurements from the River Watch processor (Brakenridge, G. R., De Groeve, T., Cohen, S., and Nghiem, S.V., online publication, this location)
Sample of current mapping: flooding in Mozambique, January 2013; see 030E020S of the Global Water Survey for additional data.
Sample of current mapping: flooding in Nigeria, September 17-26, 2012; see 010E010N of the Surface Water Record for additional data.
Sample of current mapping: rrought in the Central USA, Summer, 2012; see Critical Area Drought Index, and appropriate sheets of the Surface Water Record (click on top global map, above) for regional coverage
The Flood Observatory uses orbital remote sensing to detect, measure, and map surface water changes. It includes:
1) Satellite River Discharge Measurements, an experimental satellite-based river discharge measurement system (example).
2) The Surface Water Record, acomprehensive map record of the Earth's changing surface water (click on installed sheets in global map above).
3) Active Archive of Large Floods, 1985 to present (listing and characterization of large flood events).
4) Rapid Response Inundation Maps, for individual flood events.
Example: late 2011 Thailand flooding
Red: Flooding, during a 10-day accumulation of MODIS imaging.
Light Red: Previously flooded this event; now dry.
Blue: Reference Water (permanent water bodies).
See also other projects and data products
The Flood Observatory facilitates practical use of space-based information for international flood detection, flood response, future risk assessment, and hydrological research.
In 2013, it is leading a NASA SMD/ESD Applied Sciences Program feasibility project to improve WFP use of flood mapping information. Click on video below for visualization of WFP logistics.
This web site and associated data by G. Robert Brakenridge and Albert J. Kettner are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
This work is made possible by data acquired by NASA, the Japanese Space Agency, and the European Space Agency, and funding support from NASA and the European Commission, through the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) project, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy. The Observatory was founded in 1993 at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH USA and moved to the University of Colorado, INSTAAR, CSDMS in 2010. The institutional support of both universities is gratefully acknowledged.
http://floodobservatory.colorado.edu/Flood Observatory