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Near real-time flood inundation and hazard mapping of Baitarani River Basin using Google Earth Engine and SAR imagery

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Abstract

Flood inundation mapping and satellite imagery monitoring are critical and effective responses during flood events. Mapping of a flood using optical data is limited due to the unavailability of cloud-free images. Because of its capacity to penetrate clouds and operate in all kinds of weather, synthetic aperture radar is preferred for water inundation mapping. Flood mapping in Eastern India’s Baitarani River Basin for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 was performed in this study using Sentinel-1 imagery and Google Earth Engine with Otsu’s algorithm. Different machine-learning algorithms were used to map the LULC of the study region. Dual polarizations VH and VV and their combinations VV×VH, VV+VH, VH−VV, VV−VH, VV/VH, and VH/VV were examined to identify non-water and water bodies. The normalized difference water index (NDWI) map derived from Sentinel-2 data validated the surface water inundation with 80% accuracy. The total inundated areas were identified as 440.3 km2 in 2018, 268.58 km2 in 2019, 178.40 km2 in 2020, 203.79 km2 in 2021, and 321.33 km2 in 2022, respectively. The overlap of flood maps on the LULC map indicated that flooding highly affected agriculture and urban areas in these years. The approach using the near-real-time Sentinel-1 SAR imagery and GEE platform can be operationalized for periodic flood mapping, helps develop flood control measures, and helps enhance flood management. The generated annual flood inundation maps are also useful for policy development, agriculture yield estimation, crop insurance framing, etc.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express great appreciation to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, Odisha, India

    Bobbili Aravind Sai Atchyuth & Ratnakar Swain

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, USA

    Pulakesh Das

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  1. Bobbili Aravind Sai Atchyuth
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  2. Ratnakar Swain
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  3. Pulakesh Das
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Contributions

Data collection, execution, data interpretation, and manuscript draft preparation: Bobbili Aravind Sai Atchyuth

Supervision and preparation of final manuscript: Ratnakar Swain

Editing and suggestions on the overall research work: Pulakesh Das

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Correspondence to Ratnakar Swain.

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Atchyuth, B.A.S., Swain, R. & Das, P. Near real-time flood inundation and hazard mapping of Baitarani River Basin using Google Earth Engine and SAR imagery. Environ Monit Assess 195, 1331 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11876-5

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