Space for Smarter Government Programme Development of Operational National Satellite Imaging Flood Mapping Capability Project Number: 59287-454144 Web: http://www.spaceforsmartergovernment.uk/ Email: ssgp@sa.catapult.org.uk
Project Overview Aim To meet expressed Cabinet Office (CO)/COBR requirements for rapid national level flood mapping in Near Real Time (NRT) using all weather (Radar) satellite imagery and developing existing local area satellite flood mapping methodologies. Objectives Improving timeliness using satellite capabilities Develop national satellite tasking plan Utilise UK CUT for near real time COSMO- SkyMed data downlink Precise & Accurate automated flood delineation
Achievements 3 day flood forecast to enable national tasking plan for high priority regions using high resolution COSMO-SkyMed Imagery. Improved flood delineation across wide area mapping. Improved methodology for urban flood delineation. UK CUT utilised for COSMO-SkyMed. Overall accuracy of Flood delineation over 90%. 4 hour turn-around from image acquisition to precise flood delineation.
Satellite enabled solution Mapping of floods in urban areas benefits greatly from high resolution imagery Ranking developed based on factors of flood risk and urban density Priority areas to be mapped using the COSMO-SkyMed constellation at 3m Other flood areas mapped with Sentinel-1 20m
Satellite enabled solution Targeted selection using COSMO-SkyMed data allows a priority area to be imaged within hours of flood forecast allowing rapid flood extent assessment
Satellite tasked according to forecast flood Targeted selection using COSMO-SkyMed data allows a priority area to be imaged within hours of flood forecast. Data is downloaded in Near Real Time to the UK Space Agency funded Customer User Terminal for COSMO-SkyMed
Satellite enabled solution Through the development of a national tasking plan, Telespazio highlight the possibilities of satellite imagery to analyse with precision, terrestrial landscapes on a national scale in a short space of time. The development of techniques for manipulating COSMO-SkyMed satellite data enabled improved precision and accuracy conducting multi-frame Flood Delineation observed, in the figure to the left.
Satellite enabled solution An example of Telespazio s flood delineation for the 2014 Thames flood mapping over Cookham, Berkshire. This was compared with Environment Agency collected LIDAR flood map. Note, the high spatial and temporal resolution of COSMO SkyMed allows for greater precision and accuracies when delineating wide area flooding.
Engagement with end users Through one to one interviews with key end users the following requirements for a flood mapping product were identified: Spatial coverage Product format Response planning Spatial resolution of data Definition of priority areas. Also a 1-day end user workshop was held on 11 March which highlighted the successful aspects of the project to a wide audience of private and public sector stakeholders. This also stimulated interest for the participation of a future project phase and gaining access to the future service. User Community Involved: Natural Resources Wales Environment Agency Geomatics DEFRA Civil Contingencies Secretariat Fujitsu Local Resilience Forum for Devon, Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Ordnance Survey Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Loughborough University Leicester University EuroTempest AON Benfield ResilienceDirect
Benefits for end user - economic social or financial The challenges facing the Environment Agency: Urban flood mapping Automation of flood mapping methods Wide area flood mapping The key project impacts: The ability to use Sentinel -1 data for wide area flood mapping The capability of how high resolution SAR data such as Cosmo-SkyMed can be delivered within that wider area for key urban locations, using a priority ranking to optimise satellite tasking. Understanding the timeliness capabilities of these two satellite systems with regards to national flood mapping of England. The potential benefits that this timeliness could bring to EO Services, for example Copernicus EMS.
Benefits for end user Economic - Savings will be achieved through using a lower cost methodology than possible with another platform (e.g. aircraft, drones, aerostats) to provide an equivalent operational capability.. as below Operational - Improved operational capability for producing flood map products; Low latency flood extent map potentially within 30 to 45 minutes of acquisition High frequency (twice daily) National response same cost and response time regardless of location Weather-independent reliability Social More rapid situational awareness of flood risk and peak flow situation, which will better guide tactical response and political direction for improved civil confidence Service is green with lower carbon footprint
Business models considered Conventional per event based pricing Cost driven by imagery volume based i.e. flood extent and duration dependent Reactive - requiring emergency contingency government funding to activate In place - available immediately Subscription based Price driven by number of subscribers Flooding service viewed as insurance policy extension to (or part of) Flood Re. Annual fee Lower risk incentivises suppliers to develop technology refresh
Conclusions Acquired from the Project Robust methodologies for wide area national tasking of SAR imagery. Improved methodology for delineating urban flooding. Near real-time refresh rates set by the Cabinet Office are achievable. Benefits from the Project The production of a national tasking plan for high resolution COSMO-SkyMed imagery. Enabling a more efficient, effective response to flood events from the onset. Development of the applications for Coherent Change Detection (CCD). Industrial Estate, Oxford
Next Steps Next Steps Automation of process to achieve near real-time flood delineation on a national scale Improve the forecast guided activation of satellite imaging Greater provision of datasets to facility ease of use for insurance industry
Thank you for your attention Geraint Cooksley Telespazio VEGA UK 01582 399 000 geraint.cooksley@telespazio.com Questions?