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Earth Observation to Monitor and Redress Inequitable Post-Flood Recovery
  • +13
  • Hannah K Friedrich,
  • Beth Tellman,
  • Jonathan A Sullivan,
  • Alex Saunders,
  • Adriana A Zuniga-Terran,
  • Laura Bakkensen,
  • Max Cawley,
  • Michaela Dolk,
  • Robert Emberson,
  • Steven A Forrest,
  • Neha Gupta,
  • Narayan Gyawali,
  • Caitlyn A Hall,
  • Albert Kettner,
  • Jorge Luis Sanchez Lozano,
  • Gode B Bola
Hannah K Friedrich
University of Arizona

Corresponding Author:hfriedrich@arizona.edu

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Beth Tellman
University of Arizona
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Jonathan A Sullivan
University of Arizona
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Alex Saunders
University of Arizona
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Adriana A Zuniga-Terran
University of Arizona
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Laura Bakkensen
University of Arizona
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Max Cawley
North Carolina Museum of Life and Science
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Michaela Dolk
World Bank
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Robert Emberson
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Steven A Forrest
University of Hull
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Neha Gupta
University of Arizona
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Narayan Gyawali
Agriculture and Forestry University
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Caitlyn A Hall
University of Arizona
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Albert Kettner
University of Colorado Boulder
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Jorge Luis Sanchez Lozano
Brigham Young University
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Gode B Bola
Congo Basin Water Resources Research Center
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Abstract

Floods impact communities worldwide, resulting in an estimated $651 billion (USD) in damages, countless fatalities, and threatened livelihoods over the last two decades alone. Climate change and urban development in flood-prone areas will continue to worsen flood-related losses increasing the urgency for effective tools to monitor recovery. Many Earth Observation (EO) applications exist for flood-hazard monitoring and provide insights on location, timing, and extent in near real-time and historically to estimate flood risk. Less attention has been paid to flood recovery, even though differing recovery rates and outcomes can have immediate and enduring effects within communities. Here, we define post-flood recovery as a change in land cover types, conditions, or land surface features in the days, weeks, months, or years following a flood event. EO data are uniquely positioned to monitor post-flood recovery and inform policy on hazard mitigation and adaptation but remain underutilized. We urge the EO and flood research community to renew focus on developing flood recovery applications to address growing flood risk. Both methodological innovations and translation of EO insights on flood recovery among flood-affected communities and decision-makers are necessary to address underlying vulnerabilities in social systems that exacerbate flooding. We identify an unequivocal need for EO to move beyond hazard mapping to post-flood recovery monitoring to inform recovery across geographic contexts. This commentary proposes a framework to use EO to advance flood recovery monitoring, characterize inequitable recovery, redistribute resources to mitigate inequities, and support risk reduction of future floods.
04 Aug 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
07 Aug 2023Published in ESS Open Archive