The hydrometeorological hazards theme will focus on leveraging Copernicus Sentinel data for flood, drought, and wildfire assessment and preparedness in the LAC region.
Four services will be developed dedicated to flooding, one service to drought, and three services to wildfires. The corresponding use cases will be tailored according to the specific needs of the geographic area of application. Use cases include topics on flooding dynamics, hydraulic modelling with Copernicus Sentinel data, hurricane forecasting, drought index customisation, and biofuel and land use and cover for fire danger assessment.
The project portfolio includes pre-operational applications, or use cases, of the developed services in selected areas throughout the LAC region for the purpose of demonstrating and testing their capabilities and potential.
Use Case 1: Flood extent mapping for preparedness
Areas of application: Jamaica, Guyana, Belize
Delineation mapping of past flooding events to inform preparedness activities for future analogous events.
The services applied are Flood Extent Mapping, Flood Depth Mapping, and Urban Flood Mapping.
Use Case 2: Flood frequency and impact mapping
Area of application: Colombia
Representation of likelihood (or frequency) of flooding from 2016 to the present, with indications of flood depth of the maximum potential flood extent.
The services applied are Flood Extent Mapping, Flood Depth Mapping, Flood Frequency Mapping, and Urban Flood Mapping.
For the pre-operational application phase, flood extent maps will be updated monthly and complemented by an on-demand estimation of flood impact.
Use Case 3: Flood historical record in urban areas
Area of application: Bolivia
Hazard mapping and flood forecasting by combining local hydrological models’ outputs and flood observations in urban and non-urban areas.
The services applied are Flood Extent Mapping, Flood Depth Mapping, Flood Frequency Mapping, Flood Hazard, and Urban Flood Mapping.
Use Case 4: Flood hazard with hydrological modelling and Earth Observation
Areas of application: Central America, Peru, Ecuador
Hazard mapping and flood forecasting by combining the outputs of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS) with high-resolution flood observations from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites.
The services applied are Flood Extent Mapping, Flood Depth Mapping, Flood Frequency Mapping, and Flood Hazard.
Use Case 5: Drought and crop surveillance
Area of application: Paraguay
Provision of systematic monitoring or on-demand analysis of drought conditions on crops, using Earth Observation data combined with climatic time series analysis and WorldCereal datasets.
The service applied is Drought Indices Mapping.
Use Case 6: Wildfires: Mapping events, danger, and recovery
Areas of application: Colombia and Central America
Comprehensive monitoring of forest fires, covering all stages of the disaster risk management cycle.
The services applied are Fire Danger Mapping, Burned Area Mapping, and Fire Recovery Mapping.
