The hydrometeorological hazards theme focuses on leveraging Copernicus Sentinel data for flood, drought, and wildfire assessment and preparedness in the LAC region.
Ten services are dedicated to flooding and one service to drought. The corresponding use cases are tailored according to the specific needs of the geographic area of application. Use cases include topics on flooding dynamics, Copernicus Sentinel data merging with hydraulic modelling, past events cataloguing for hurricane preparation, and drought index customisation.
Use Case 1: Flood extent mapping for preparedness
Areas of application: Jamaica, Guyana, Belize
This use case focuses on delineating and cataloguing past flood events to support preparedness for future analogous situations. It includes two dedicated applications. The first enriches each historical flood extent with detailed meteorological descriptors, such as event type, wind speed, and storm surge, for analysis during non‑emergency periods. The second application, used specifically for preparedness, identifies and retrieves from the catalogue the flood extents whose characteristics match those of an approaching event.
The services used are Flood Extent Mapping and Flood Depth Mapping, with additional demonstrations of the capabilities of the proprietary Urban Flood Mapping service.
Use Case 2: Flood frequency and impact mapping
Area of application: Colombia
This use case demonstrates automated monitoring of flood occurrence over time by combining monthly flood‑extent maps with semi‑annual flood‑frequency products. The Flood Extent Mapping and Flood Frequency Mapping services run automatically as new Sentinel‑1 and Sentinel‑2 data become available, generating updated pixel‑level information on where flooding has occurred and how often. Users can complement these outputs with the on‑demand Flood Depth Mapping service, which estimates maximum water depths for selected events and supports high‑level impact assessment when combined with relevant exposure layers.
Use Case 3: Flood historical record in urban areas
Area of application: Bolivia
This use case applies the service Flood Impact in Agriculture to selected areas in Bolivia to quantify the damage and potential economic losses caused by flood events in crops. Based on flood extent maps derived from Sentinel 1, combined with maps and agricultural production information, the service allows estimation of affected cultivated areas, production losses and economic impacts.
This capacity provides user institutions with a key tool for post-disaster assessment, facilitating the prioritisation of affected areas, the quantification of agricultural losses, and support for decision-making regarding agricultural insurance, compensation, financial support, and recovery planning.
Use Case 4: Flood hazard with hydrological modelling and Earth Observation
Areas of application: Central America, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador
This use case combines high‑resolution satellite‑derived flood observations with hydrological forecasts from the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS) to generate multi‑frequency flood hazard maps. The Flood Hazard service integrates Sentinel‑based flood frequency and satellite‑derived depth information with GloFAS return‑period outputs to provide harmonised hazard layers over the region.
Use Case 5: Drought and crop surveillance
Area of application: Paraguay
This use case provides systematic or on‑demand monitoring of drought conditions affecting vegetation and crops by combining Earth Observation-based anomaly indicators with climatic time‑series analysis and WorldCereal datasets. The Drought Indices Mapping service produces crop masks, meteorological and soil‑moisture anomaly indicators, and a Combined Drought Index that integrates meteorological, moisture, and vegetation anomalies to support drought preparedness and agricultural risk management.
