Take it as a reference for creating your research proposal. This PPT is a research proposal for PhD in WRDM (Water Resources Development and Management) of IIT Roorkee. The presentation deals with rapid flood inundation and mapping using SAR satellite data and cloud-computing platform i.e. Google Earth Engine (GEE). Hope this will help you. If you have any doubt, write to me @ itsakashpandey@gmail.com

1. 1
Research Proposal for Ph.D.
Harnessing The Power Of SAR And Google Earth Engine For
Rapid Flood Inundation Mapping
Submitted By
AKASH KUMAR
Application No.: WRD22110
Department of Water Resources Development and Management
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

2. 2
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
If selected, I would like to pursue my research on the generation of a flood extent map
for the assessment of affected areas. The flood extent can be created using a change
detection approach on Sentinel-1 (SAR) data. To assess the number of potentially exposed
people, affected cropland and urban areas, additional datasets will be intersected with the
derived flood extent layer and will be visualized.
I’ll be using Google Earth Engine, which is a powerful web-platform for cloud-based
processing of remote sensing data on large scales. Web based interactive UI (GEE App) can be
created for the visualization of flood extend maps. The model that I want to create can be
used for any large areas with major flooding with user’s own area of interest and dates.

3. 3
INTRODUCTION
Any populated areas which normally fall in
tropical regions are prone to floods. Heavy rainfall
enhances the accumulation of water in the
catchments and overflow of water beyond its
normal confines. Flood mitigation planning and
management requires knowledge of land use as
well as accurate identification and mapping of
flood prone areas. Generation of real/near real
time accurate water inundation maps are required
to see the flow of flood water in the affected
areas during the time of disaster. Image Source : https://unsplash.com/s/photos/emergency-management

4. 4
SAR BASED FLOOD EXTENT MAPPING
SAR-based flood mapping is a standard and reliable method for determining the
extent of major floods. SAR can penetrate cloud-cover, operate in any weather
conditions and provide timely and crucial information about one of the most frequent
and devastating natural disasters: flooding.
Image Source : https://sentinels.copernicus.eu/web/sentinel/missions/sentinel-1/instrument-payload
 C-Band (5.405 GHz frequency)
 Global Coverage every 12 days / 6 days
(A & B Constellation)
 Interferometric Wide (IW) Mode
 Swath – 250 km
 Polarization – Dual (VV + VH)
 Spatial Resolution – 5m x 20m

5. 5
GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE
Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a free-for-all cloud-based image processing
platform enabling the rapid processing of big datasets covering a large area. The
advantage mainly lies in its computational speed, as processing is outsourced to
Google’s servers. The platform provides a variety of constantly updated datasets
which can be accessed directly within the code editor. No download of raw
imagery is required.
Image Source : https://code.earthengine.google.com/ 5
Code
Editor
Map
Zoom
Geometry Tools
Scripts /
Docs
Output
Search for Database / Places
Save Run
Help & User Guide
Layer
Manager

6. 6
DATASETS
 Sentinel 1 SAR Vertically transmitted Vertically receive (VV) Polarization data.
 Sentinel-2 optical data
 Climate Hazards Group Infra-Red Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS)
 JRC Global Surface Water Mapping Layers
 JRC Global Human Settlement Population Layer
 MODIS Land Cover Type product
 WWF HydroSHEDS Hydrologically Conditioned DEM

7. 7
RESEARCH Methodology
Methodology Source : https://un-spider.org/advisory-
support/ recommended-practices/recommended-practice-
google-earth-engine-flood-mapping

8. 8
EXAMPLES OF RESULT
(a) Smoothening
(c) Slope refined
(b) Change Detection
Images Source : https://un-spider.org/advisory-
support/recommended-practices/recommended-
practice-google-earth-engine-flood-
mapping/step-by-step

9. 9
EXAMPLES OF RESULT
(d) Affected Population density
(e) Affected crop land
Images Source : https://un-spider.org/advisory-
support/recommended-practices/recommended-
practice-google-earth-engine-flood-mapping/step-
by-step

10. THANKYOU