Flooding in Poland on images from space
Recently, drought and forest fires, and today local flooding and risk of flooding. The dramatic situation in southern Poland is reflected in images from Sentinel satellites, made available on the CREODIAS platform, part of the European Earth monitoring program Copernicus.
Lack of precipitationow, high temperatures and wind – These factors caused Poland to start drying out as early as spring. As a result, since the beginning of the year, the number of firesow was twice as high as in the previous year. On one day in April alone, there were almost 370 firesoInto the forestow. Strong winds caused them to spread rapidly, and the fire covered up to several dozen hectaresoin the area. All it took was a change in the weather and a few days of precipitationoin order for Poland, especially in the south, to start struggling with an excess of water.
Only one night, firefighters intervened more than 1,200 times in connection with the weather situation – most often in Podkarpackie, Malopolska and Swietokrzyskie regions. The roAlso up to several hundred casesoin flooded buildingsoin, and even situations in whichoThe scale of the phenomenon is best shown by satellite images made available on the CREODIAS cloud platform, which required evacuation of people. Hydrological warnings of the third, highest degree have been issued for Malopolska, Swietokrzyskie, Lubelskie, Podkarpackie and Lower Silesia.
Flooding in images from space
The scale of the phenomenon is best shown by satellite images made available on the CREODIAS cloud platform, whichohe operator is the Polish company CloudFerro. On behalf of the European Space Agency, it collects and processes images from satelliteoIn the framework of the European program of observation of our planet.
In satellite imagesoin the visible effects of precipitationoin, whichore occurred in the last few days. – Due to very intense storm-like precipitation, someorivers have seen a sharp increase in the state of theoin the water. The result is waterlogging of lower-lying areasoIn, as can be perfectly seen from radar images taken by the Sentinel 1 satellite – comments on the satellite images by Dr. Malgorzata Kepinska-Kasprzak of the Center for Meteorological Forecasting Service of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management of the National Research Institute. This data is not only important from the point of view of meteorology, it is also an important source ofoA source of information for emergency services, state authorities or insurance companies, whoore on the basis of photos can estimate the damage caused.
Importance of satellite imaging for meteorology
Institutions specializing in synoptics are now treating satellite imaging as an extremely important means ofob acquisition of information for weather research and forecasting. – The more sources we haveode sources of information, the more detailedodata and the better forecasts we are able to prepare. Certainly, the use of satellite images has triggered a kind of revolution in meteorology and hydrology, not only because of their high spatial and temporal resolution, but roalso usually lower costs in poroIn comparison with ground measurements – explains an expert from IMGW-PIB.
Scientists have no illusions that the current situation is the result of climate change. According to Maciej Krzyzanowski, president of CloudFerro, ktora is the operator of European platforms providing satellite imagery (CREODIAS and WEkEO), climate change is forcing us to change our approach and make greater use of available technologies, if only in the area of forecasting or analytics.
Above, the village of Izbiska. Photo from 17.05.2019
ISBIS. Photo from 22.05.2019
Potential of data from space
– In situations such as the current threat to people and property in southern Poland caused by heavy, prolonged rainfall, authorities can, and should, take advantage of the analysis made through the images and tools provided by the CREODIAS platform. The authorities can definitely better helpoc of the affected parties, having a full picture of the situation through analysis of satellite imagery and managing the actions of the wspolnie with the relevant services from the office level than by declaring support in front of the cameras – mowi Maciej Krzyzanowski of CloudFerro. – Satellite data is of great importance, first and foremost, in ensuring the safety of the population. Today, we need to watch what is happening on Earth to moc prepare for potentially dangerous phenomena and respond accordingly if necessary – adds.
In economic terms, on the other hand, satellite data contributes to the development of new companies and technologies related to imaging. Many solutions are being developed using images from space – applications for agriculture, fisheriesown the state, insurance industry, emergency services, local administrations or urban plannersow. – The kaleidoscope of data that satellites provide us with is so rich and roso diverse that at present we are not even able to foresee all the possibilities of their application. It is worth knowing that satellite images are not only classical images, but roThe event also includes radar, infrared images, images of radiation emitted by clouds or the Earth’s surface, or images of water vapor, and platforms such as CREODIAS are equipped with ready-to-use tools for their analysis – explains Maciej Krzyzanowski.
CloudFerro as part of the coohe European Space Agency has been providing cloud services for the CREODIAS platform since mid-2018, and since April 2019 – WEkEO, a service developed by EUMETSAT, ECMWF and Mercator Ocean, the key institutions involved in meteorology in Europe, providing comprehensive information on observations of our planet. Access to data, but also to the computing power provided by the cloud behind each of these platforms, provides business with entirely new opportunities for growth.