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Sentinel-1 aids response to Namibia flood

2014-05

While Sentinel-1A is clearly demonstrating its versatility for monitoring many aspects of Earth, it has already been used for practical purposes. One of the satellite.s first images was crucial in helping Namibian authorities decide how to respond to a serious flood. Monitoring these devastating floods is normally hampered by the weather because sensors on aircraft cannot see through the cloud and are limited to relatively small areas. Trying to access remote flood-stricken areas on the ground is also impractical. Triggered by a flood alert from the Namibian Flood Bulletin, Sentinel-1A acquired one of its first images over the Caprivi flood plain on 13 April. The image was acquired in the satellite.s main 'interferometric wide swath mode', which has a swath width of 250 km able to capture large floods such as this. With the help of the Water Observation Information System (WOIS) produced by the TIGER initiative, the scans were converted into a flood map, which helped the Namibian authorities to assess the situation and make decisions.

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