Presented by Vladimir Smakhtin at the National Workshop on “Use of Space Based Information for Disaster Management” Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 17, 2014.

1. RESPONDING TO NATURAL DISASTERS: THE ROLE OF
SPACE BASED INFORMATION
VLADIMIR SMAKHTIN, GIRIRAJ AMARNATH, PAUL PAVELIC, BRINDHA KARTHIKEYAN
International Water Management Institute
National workshop on
“Use of Space based information in Disaster Management”
Colombo, Sri Lanka,17 November 2014

2. WATER-RELATED DISASTERS: THE WORLD
Average annual characteristics over 1980-2008
Distribution of Deaths and People Affected
Source -EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Brussels
• Floods and droughts account for about 90% of all people affected by all natural disasters
• Frequency and intensity of these events increases with changing climate
• Annual damages may rise to over 400 bill USD globally by 2030

3. WATER-RELATED DISASTERS: SRI LANKA
2500000
2000000
1500000
1000000
500000
0
Drought
1987
Drought
1982
Flood
1983
Tsunami
2004
Storm
1978
Flood
1969
Drought
2001
Drought
1988
Flood
2003
Flood
1989
300000000
250000000
200000000
150000000
100000000
50000000
0
Flood
1992
Storm
1978
Storm
1964
Flood
1989
Flood
1991
Flood
2003
Flood
1969
Flood
1966
Flood
1967
People affected – millions
Economic damage – hundreds millions $
Source -EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Brussels

4. CATASTROPHIC FLOOD HOTSPOTS, ASIA
• 6 global data sources, 4000+ floods ,100 km grid
• Numbers of floods in each cell over 1900-2011

5. PPhhoototo :: DDaavviidd BBrraazziieerr//IIWWPPMMhhoIoI ttoo: :DToavmid v Barna Cziaekre/InWbeMrgI he/IWMI
MAPPING FLOOD EXTENT USING REMOTE SENSING
Ganges Basin, India
Sep 22, 2011
MODIS Satellite Image,
Estimated inundation extent

6. SUB-CONTINENTAL FLOOD MAPPING: SOUTH ASIA
• 8-days maps of inundation extent
• Annual maps of maximum inundation
• Inter-annual variation of regional flooding extent
Flood
Mixed (Crop)
Water bodies
Inter-annual variation (2000 – 2011)
Normal River
2010
2010

7. PPhhoototo :: DDaavviidd BBrraazziieerr//IIWWPPMMhhoIoI ttoo: :DToavmid v Barna Cziaekre/InWbeMrgI he/IWMI
SUB-CONTINENTAL FLOOD MAPPING: SOUTH EAST ASIA
Flood over land use
Flood over population
Flood Frequency
Regional View; e.g. 13th Oct 2011

8. SOUTH ASIA DROUGHT MONITORING SYSTEM (DMS)
 Builds on IWMI’s previous experience in on-line drought monitoring in SW Asia
 Near-real time, weekly, 250 m spatial resolution, drought severity maps
NDVI deviation
map for a
District
Time Series
graph
Drought free zone
Mild Drought zone
Severe Drought zone

9. DMS: INTEGRATED
MONITORING APPROACH Satellite Data
RS and Meteorological Data
Biophysical Data
Data Input variables
1) NDVI; VCI; Ratio of ET-PET
2) Percent Annual Seasonal
Greenness (PASG)
3) Start of Season Anomaly
(SOSA)
1) Standardized
Precipitation Index
(SPI)
2) LST & TCI
1) Land cover
2) GIAM
3) AWC
4) Ecoregion
5) Elevation
Regression
Tree Model
using Cubist
1. Integrated Database Development
2. Model Development 3. Map Generation
Drought Severity Index
4. Online Visualization
Platform
Regional to basin level applications
and decision support products
SA bi-weekly,
monthly
products
Basin-level high
resolution
products
Country-level,
1-km, biweekly
products
Water
managers
Irrigation
Districts
State
Agencies
Academic
Institutions
Federal
Agencies
Scientific
Community
International
Agencies
Disaster Relief
Organization

10. 2014 DROUGHT: REALITY CHECK OF SPACE BASED DATA
2014 drought seriously damaged crops in
Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonaruwa districts
Water for a food-secure world
www.iwmi.org

11. SOUTH ASIA DMS: PLANNED OUTPUTS
• Quantification of drought’s magnitude, spatial extent, and impact – through a
combination of climate, vegetation and biophysical indicators
• On-line prototype drought monitoring tool – the basis for coordination of regional
drought mitigation effort.
• Identified hot-spot areas – where droughts are more intense and frequent – to plan
preventive measures
• National capacity in drought monitoring in all participating countries
• Regional sharing and dissemination of operational drought information

12. MANAGING FLOODS AND DROUGHTS TOGETHER:
Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI)

13. MANAGING FLOODS AND DROUGHTS TOGETHER:
Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI)

14. MANAGING FLOODS AND DROUGHTS TOGETHER:
Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI)

15. MANAGING FLOODS AND DROUGHTS TOGETHER:
Underground Taming of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI)

16. UTFI SYSTEM DESIGN
rice paddies
Infiltration ponds
canals
recharge
structure
well
irrigation
+ + +
+ +
city
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
flood
prone
sea
+
dam
diversion
Photos: IWMI

17. UTFI – ONE SOLUTION TO MULTIPLE PROBLEMS
Rural
Farmers
Surface Water
Urban Flood
Managers
Opportunities
Impacts
Upstream
Downstream
Groundwater

18. THE ROLE OF SPACE INFORMATION:
Input to UTFI suitability analysis
• Around 30 indicators reflecting various aspects of suitability (geohydrology, land
use, topography, flood risks, population, etc). Many indicator are derived from RS