Flood monitoring in Norway using ERS-1 SAR images

The all-weather capability of SAR makes it interesting for flood monitoring. A major flood occurred in south Norway in June 1995. Several ERS-1 SAR images were acquired over the region during the flooding. Change detection techniques was applied using additional ERS-1 SAR images taken before the flooding. The location and extend of the flooded regions was then registered in areas that had moderate wind conditions. In the future, RADARSAT may prove to be an alternative for flood monitoring since it can operate at higher incidence angles and therefore be more independent of the wind conditions