Increasing Timeliness of Satellite-Based Flood Mapping Using Early Warning Systems in the Copernicus Emergency Management Service

Remotely sensed images have become an important source of information for actors involved in disaster management and satellite-based emergency mapping (SEM) is increasingly used to support the response phase in the first hours and days after a disaster occurs. The delivery timeliness of the crisis i...

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Main Authors: Annett Wania, Inès Joubert-Boitat, Francesco Dottori, Milan Kalas, Peter Salamon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/11/2114
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author Annett Wania
Inès Joubert-Boitat
Francesco Dottori
Milan Kalas
Peter Salamon
author_facet Annett Wania
Inès Joubert-Boitat
Francesco Dottori
Milan Kalas
Peter Salamon
author_sort Annett Wania
collection DOAJ
description Remotely sensed images have become an important source of information for actors involved in disaster management and satellite-based emergency mapping (SEM) is increasingly used to support the response phase in the first hours and days after a disaster occurs. The delivery timeliness of the crisis information is key to the success of SEM. In the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), a procedure was tested during the past 5 years which links the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) with the on-demand Rapid Mapping module in order to anticipate satellite tasking in view of an upcoming activation of the service for riverine floods. This study aims at assessing if the procedure has helped to improve the delivery timeliness of the first flood impact information. For the assessment, we used the Rapid Mapping performance statistics recorded from June 2016 to December 2020. Standard Rapid Mapping activations for floods were compared with those preceded by an EFAS based pre-tasking request. The focus was on essential time stamps such as activation start, provision of imagery and the availability of derived information products. For the pre-tasking-related activations, we further compared the EFAS predictions with the Rapid Mapping user request and compared flood predictions with actual observations. Our results show that the EFAS based pre-tasking improves the timeliness of the first product delivery due to the fact that satellite images could be acquired earlier compared to activations without pre-tasking.
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spelling doaj.art-8c79ee58bd9b410ba056251396562d062023-11-21T21:44:25ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-05-011311211410.3390/rs13112114Increasing Timeliness of Satellite-Based Flood Mapping Using Early Warning Systems in the Copernicus Emergency Management ServiceAnnett Wania0Inès Joubert-Boitat1Francesco Dottori2Milan Kalas3Peter Salamon4European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyUni Systems, 20145 Milan, ItalyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyFreelance Consultant, 21027 Ispra, ItalyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, ItalyRemotely sensed images have become an important source of information for actors involved in disaster management and satellite-based emergency mapping (SEM) is increasingly used to support the response phase in the first hours and days after a disaster occurs. The delivery timeliness of the crisis information is key to the success of SEM. In the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), a procedure was tested during the past 5 years which links the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) with the on-demand Rapid Mapping module in order to anticipate satellite tasking in view of an upcoming activation of the service for riverine floods. This study aims at assessing if the procedure has helped to improve the delivery timeliness of the first flood impact information. For the assessment, we used the Rapid Mapping performance statistics recorded from June 2016 to December 2020. Standard Rapid Mapping activations for floods were compared with those preceded by an EFAS based pre-tasking request. The focus was on essential time stamps such as activation start, provision of imagery and the availability of derived information products. For the pre-tasking-related activations, we further compared the EFAS predictions with the Rapid Mapping user request and compared flood predictions with actual observations. Our results show that the EFAS based pre-tasking improves the timeliness of the first product delivery due to the fact that satellite images could be acquired earlier compared to activations without pre-tasking.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/11/2114satellite-based emergency mappingearly warningfloodsCopernicus Emergency Management Servicepre-tasking
spellingShingle Annett Wania
Inès Joubert-Boitat
Francesco Dottori
Milan Kalas
Peter Salamon
Increasing Timeliness of Satellite-Based Flood Mapping Using Early Warning Systems in the Copernicus Emergency Management Service
Remote Sensing
satellite-based emergency mapping
early warning
floods
Copernicus Emergency Management Service
pre-tasking
title Increasing Timeliness of Satellite-Based Flood Mapping Using Early Warning Systems in the Copernicus Emergency Management Service
title_full Increasing Timeliness of Satellite-Based Flood Mapping Using Early Warning Systems in the Copernicus Emergency Management Service
title_fullStr Increasing Timeliness of Satellite-Based Flood Mapping Using Early Warning Systems in the Copernicus Emergency Management Service
title_full_unstemmed Increasing Timeliness of Satellite-Based Flood Mapping Using Early Warning Systems in the Copernicus Emergency Management Service
title_short Increasing Timeliness of Satellite-Based Flood Mapping Using Early Warning Systems in the Copernicus Emergency Management Service
title_sort increasing timeliness of satellite based flood mapping using early warning systems in the copernicus emergency management service
topic satellite-based emergency mapping
early warning
floods
Copernicus Emergency Management Service
pre-tasking
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/11/2114
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