In today's PI meeting, both remote sensing groups reported on first findings regarding the radargrammetric processing of pairs of test images acquired in the landfall area of Hurricane Michael (2018). Using a commercially available software package, the UMass group has obtained first results from a pair of Capella SAR images, but the quality is questionable. They are still experimenting with different parameter settings and options – for example, the software can process the two SAR images in a standalone approach or in combination with known topography information from an external source, such as SRTM data. Similar tests have been started at CSTARS in Miami with the SAR images acquired by Airbus Defence and Space, but the partners at Airbus will apply their own radargrammetry algorithm as well and are expected to deliver results soon.
In addition to the discussion on radargrammetry progress, the UMiami / CSTARS group presented an example of shoreline (land-water boundary) extraction from a SAR image of the Hurricane Michael test area just on the basis of contrasts, as shown in the animated GIF on this page. This kind of product can be generated very quickly once a suitable SAR image has been acquired.
Deltares presented their results on coastal flooding and damages due to hurricanes Ian (2022), Idalia (2023), Beryl (2024) and Francine (2024) at ICCE2024 and in Storymap.
A tool for production of rapid-repeat high-resolution coastal vegetation maps has been developed.
The NHCI project coordinated the airdrop of 16 surface wave buoys and subsurface water level sensors in the path of Hurricane Francine.