Haiti Flooding and Landslide Remote Sensing Emergency (CSA)

The BGC Squared team assisted with response efforts for widespread flooding and landslide initiation on the island nation of Haiti. Tropical Storm Grace passed over the Tiburon Peninsula on August 16-17, 2021, just two days after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country. Following the storm, the International Charter Space and Major Disasters program activated a call for support from partners with expertise in analysis of remotely-sensed data and geospatial interpretation to facilitate on the ground response efforts. BGC’s Earth Observation team worked over a two-week period to leverage radar and optical satellite imagery to evaluate flooding and landslide impact areas across the island nation. This analysis used Sentinel-1 and 2 (ESA) and RADARSAT Constellation Mission (CSA) data. The effort culminated in the delivery of two map products: (i) Estimated Flood Inundation Areas in Southwestern Haiti from SAR Backscatter Analysis; and (ii) estimated landslide scars associated with the M7.2 Earthquake. This was the first effort by BGC to partake in a disaster charter and we hope our continued efforts on charter calls can provide an impactful service to humanitarian and emergency aid personnel on the ground during natural hazard events.