Masterclass: Rapid Flood Mapping and Damage Assessment Using Sentinel-1 SAR and Landsat Images

Floods are frequent natural hazards producing an unusual water overflow that submerge a large area, affecting the frontline communities, their livelihood and environmental vulnerability, and increasing social and economic consequences. In the past few decades, average flood frequency, intensity, and duration have increased, seriously impacting low-lying countries. Knowing the areas inundated by floods is essential to mitigate the effects of the disaster. With timely flood information and early warnings, agencies and organisations involved in disaster management can speed up emergency response for relief and rescue measures. Even rapid flood maps provide crucial inputs for assessing the extent of inundation areas and flood severity. In this masterclass, we will demonstrate a reproducible and automated method based on Google Earth Engine (GEE) to generate rapid flood magnitude data at a national scale. The knowledge gained in this workshop will help produce timely geographic information system (GIS) data and maps of flood-prone areas to prioritise disaster response work on the ground.  

About the expert

Mr Kabir Uddin has seventeen years of professional experience at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal, leading environmental and biodiversity management for disaster risk reduction. As a GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist and Group Lead of Land Cover and Ecosystem Services at ICIMOD, he supervises and coordinates various aspects of GIS and remote sensing work. He is experienced in preparing a wide range of training manuals on mapping land cover, glaciers, flood hazards and flood shelter suitability. He also conducts professional training in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) countries. Mr Kabir analyses optical and radars remote sensing data during flood disaster events for rapid flood inundation mapping and damage assessment systems. He works as a land cover thematic lead for SERVIR-HKH and Group Lead, Land Cover and Ecosystem Services at ICIMOD to build the Regional Land Cover Monitoring System in close collaboration with various national and international organisations to generate consistent land cover maps on an annual basis. In addition, Mr Kabir regularly publishes articles in peer-reviewed journals. Prior to joining ICIMOD, he worked at the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Bangladesh as a GIS Expert.