The Global GEO-LEO Flood Mapping System.

Near real-time satellite-derived flood maps are invaluable to river forecasters and decision-makers for disaster monitoring and relief efforts. Combining utilization of the LEO (low earth orbiting) and GEO (geostationary) satellite imagery shows great advantages in flood mapping. With the support from NOAA/NASA JPSS (Joint Polar Satellite System) Program and GOES-R program, the flood mapping system has been developed to derive flood maps from Suomi-NPP (Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership) & NOAA-20/VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) imagery, GOES-16&17/ABI (Advanced Baseline Imager) imagery, and Himawari-8/AHI imagery. These flood maps are generated on a routine base at Space Science and Engineering Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison and have been applied in flood operations. Initial feedback from river forecasters on the product accuracy and performance has been largely positive. Evaluation efforts including visual inspection and quantitative validation using Landsat-8/OLI and Sentinel-2 imagery, and aerial photos have demonstrated steady performance of these products, which indicates a high feasibility of these flood maps to be produced at the product level.