The Potential of Satellite SAR Imagery for Mapping of Flood Inundation

To assess the flood damages and to provide necessary information for preventing future catastrophe, it is necessary to appraise the inundated area with more accurate and rapid manner. This study attempts to evaluate the potential of satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data for mapping of flood inundated area in southern part of Korea. JERS L-band SAR data obtained during the summer of 1997 were used to delineate the inundated areas. In addition, Landsat TM data were also used for analyzing the land cover condition before the flooding. Once the two data sets were co-registered, each data was separately classified. The water surface areas extracted from the SAR data and the land cover map generated using the TM data were overlaid to determine the flood inundated areas. Although manual interpretation of water surfaces from the SAR image seems rather simple, the computer classification of water body requires clear understanding of radar backscattering behavior on the earth's surfaces. It was found that some surface features, such as rice fields, runaway, and tidal flat, have very similar radar backscatter to water surface. Even though satellite SAR data have a great advantage over optical remote sensor data for obtaining imagery on time and would provide valuable information to analyze flood, it should be cautious to separate the exact areas of flood inundation from the similar features.