“Fani”, the enormous storm swamped towns and villages: Microwave remote sensing to aid rescue operations
Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike Odisha since Phailin in 2013 1. Fani originated from a tropical depression that formed west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean on 26 April made landfall at Puri on 3rd May, unleashed copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 200 kmph, blowing away thatched roofs of houses, deluged towns and villages, before weakening and entering West Bengal. It is crucial to identify the affected areas in near real-time so that government and other decision-making agencies can plan rescue operations properly. Satellite remote sensing is capable of identifying flood-affected areas.
As it can be seen from the above pictures that optical Satellite imagery hardly has any data as it was reportedly raining on the day above the normal range and hence optical imagery is not helpful in this case. Microwave remote sensing is capable of obtaining data under all weather conditions and hence can map flood-affected areas to aid an effective rescue operation. Figure 2 shows microwave data over the area before and after flooding, where the dam and flooded areas can be seen clearly as microwave data is capable of penetrating clouds.
