Monsoon Misery — Assam Floods
It has been nearly two weeks now since the rains have taken control over daily life of the northeast. Like night follows day, floods here follow rains and this year has been no different. With over a crore people reeling under the deluge, devastation seems but a side effect. With over 150 people already lost to the floods, the death toll keeps mounting.
Out of the total districts of Assam, 28 districts are affected and the worst hit is the district of Barpeta, west of Guwahati. The single-horned rhinos also faced the brunt in Kaziranga national park, with Brahmaputra flowing way beyond the danger level.
In such situations understanding the accurate extent of submerged area, direction of the flow, estimated number of people affected and the affected land type. A quick understanding of problem areas, can assist in a fast movement of rescue operations, create transparent compensation process.
A challenge in doing such analytics is the presence of precipitating clouds. This is where data from the synthetic aperture radar sensors plays a vital role. With the data captured using the Sentinel 1 satellite, we were able to create a submergence extent map for the Barpeta district. With models trained for identifying this specific change, further data can be analysed in comparatively lesser time windows.
Such analytics presents its clear advantages to rescue operators, relief providers, governance and also the victim at a later date. In such difficult calamities we need wider application of such process to give larger and a much meaningful picture.
