Mapping of 2018 Flood and Estimation of Future Flood Inundation Region for Vembanad Lake System in Kerala, India Using Sentinel-1 SAR Imagery

Abstract

Floods have claimed the lives of countless people and caused significant property damage, jeopardizing their livelihoods. The study area is the Vembanad Lake System in Kerala, India has faced severe flooding in 2018 due to torrential rainfall. Considering that Google Earth Engine (GEE) streamlines and simplifies the complex and time-consuming pre-processing of SAR images, this paper evaluates flood inundation mapping using Sentinel-1 SAR data for 2018. The flood inundation zone for the study is calculated using the Land Use Land Cover (LULC) map for 2018 and the forecasted LULC for 2035 and 2050. Hence, the research assesses the areas affected by floods in 2018 and those that may experience flooding of a similar degree in the near future. Thus, the extent of flood inundation during the 2018 floods and the potential flood inundation region for future LULC in 2035 and 2050 are determined. From the analysis, 14.7 km2 of built-up area was inundated during the 2018 floods. The 2018 flood event is used to quantify the flood that may inundate the future LULC in 2035 and 2050; it is found that the flood will affect about 19.87 km2 and 23.32 km2 of the built-up region, respectively. According to the study, the built-up area impacted by the flooding will increase by 34.99% and 58.4% from 2018 to 2035 and 2050, respectively. Examining the flood-prone areas and potential flood-affected areas in the future will be of great use to planners in their efforts to forewarn of an impending tragedy. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.