OPERATIONAL AGRICULTURAL FLOOD MONITORING WITH SENTINEL-1 SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR

Agricultural flood monitoring is important for food security and economic stability. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has the advantage over optical data by operating at wavelengths not impeded by cloud cover or a lack of illumination. This characteristic makes SAR a potential alternative to optical sensors for agricultural flood monitoring during disasters. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of using freely available Copernicus Sentinel-1 SAR data for operational agricultural flood monitoring in the United States (U.S.). The operational detection of flood inundation was tested during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which resulted in significant flooding over Texas and Louisiana, U. S. This paper presents 1) the agricultural flood monitoring method that utilizes Sentinel-1 SAR, the NASS 2016 Cultivated Layer, and the NASS 2016 and 2017 Cropland Data Layers; 2) flood detection validation results and 3) inundated cropland and pasture acreage estimates. The study shows that Sentinel-1 SAR is an effective and valuable data source for operational disaster assessment of agriculture.