Making landfall in the US state of North Carolina on 14 September, Hurricane Florence is causing widespread damage and flooding. The Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar mission is being used to map affected areas.

Although this mighty hurricane was downgraded to a category 1 storm before it made landfall, the momentum the storm generated on its long trip across the Atlantic remains. Storm surges and flooding are therefore similar to that associated with a category 4 storm.

With lives and property at risk, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service was standing by - even before storm hit land - ready to map the floods to help relief efforts.

Using satellite information, the service provides information for emergency response for different types of disasters, including meteorological and geophysical hazards, deliberate and accidental disasters, humanitarian disasters, and for prevention, preparedness, response and recovery activities

Philippe Brunet, European Commission Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, said, "With our fleet of Sentinel satellite missions and our Copernicus Emergency Management Service, we are very well placed to help to respond to disasters such as hurricanes.

"Our teams have been on stand-by for several days so that they could produce these maps quickly.

"Our aim is to help and we have the tools to do so. We are, of course, concerned for all those affected by this huge storm."

Sentinel-1 is a two-satellite constellation. Each identical satellite carries an advanced radar instrument, which can 'see' through clouds and rain. This is essential for mapping weather events such as this.

Josef Aschbacher, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, said, "In response to the activation from the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, we specifically planned observations from both Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B so that areas in the US affected by the hurricane could be mapped.

"Sentinel-1, with its large-scale mapping capability, is particularly suited to mapping floods over large areas."

The first map shows flooded areas is near Jacksonville, North Carolina. The Sentinel-1 satellites, together with other satellites contributing to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, will provide further observations in the coming days.

The maps produced by the service are being used by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, which triggered the activation.

Related Links
Sentinel-1 at ESA
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Aeolus wows with first wind data
Paris (ESA) Sep 14, 2018
Just one week after ESA's Aeolus satellite shone a light on our atmosphere and returned a taster of what's in store, this ground-breaking mission has again exceeded all expectations by delivering its first data on wind - a truly remarkable feat so early in its life in space. Florence Rabier, Director General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), said, "We always knew that Aeolus would be an exceptional mission, but these first results have really impressed us. "T ... read more