Processing and segmentation of COSMO-SkyMed images for flood monitoring

In the framework of the application of remote sensing to civil protection from floods, the problem of the detection of flooded areas in high-resolution images is addressed in this paper. Specifically, the high-resolution multitemporal observation capability offered by the current COSMO-SkyMed synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation is exploited. This work is framed in the context of the “OPERA - Civil protection from floods” pilot project funded by the Italian Space Agency in cooperation with the Italian Department for Civil Protection. Several SAR image processing methods are presented in order to identify flooded areas after a flood event. Both fast-ready and detailed maps are obtained from a pair of multitemporal images of the monitored area. Experiments are presented with COSMO-SkyMed images related to a flood in the areas of Alessandria (Italy).