RGZ provides satellite images before and after floods

BELGRADE - The national geodetic institute (RGZ) has announced on Monday that it has obtained data from satellite systems for the flood-hit areas in Serbia, for May 18,19 and 21, which could provide the information about the scope of the flood, and help assess the consequences.

The data were recorded for a part of western Serbia, after the activation of the data-collecting service for rescue efforts in crisis situations.

The RGZ mapped the flooded areas and water-saturated land using remote sensing methods based on the images made by the SPOT 6 satellite system on May 19, 2014, for a part of western Serbia covering 6,786 km2 in total.

The classification of flooded areas and water-saturated land was made using the Overland and eCognition software, but also the visual interpretation of the processed satellite images.

In the case of natural disasters, remote sensing efficiently provides the information concerning the spread of the flood-hit areas and the intensity of the disaster, which is of importance when planning the flood defenses and making the best decisions in the repair process.

The results of the analysis and satellite images could be seen on the website: www.geosrbija.rs/rga.

The RGZ made sure that the website contains tools for presenting the images before and after the severe floods.

Thus, one can compare the images of the worst-affected areas before the floods and note a drastic change in the situation on the ground caused by the natural disaster.

Shots from Obrenovac have been put on display: flood-hit opencast coal mines at Kolubara, landslides and flashfloods in Krupanj, the scope of the floods at the confluence of the Drina and Sava rivers, and the Ibar highway.