Flood mapping over the Asian continent during the 1999 summer Monsoon season

Backscatter data from the SeaWinds scatterometer on the QuikSCAT satellite are used to delineate floods over the Asian continent. SeaWinds acquires Ku-band (13.4 GHz) data at the vertical polarization over a very large swath of 1800 km, and at the horizontal polarization over a 1400-km swath. We present the flood areas together with topography on land and wind field on ocean. Results show extensive flood in China, India, Bangladesh, and other Asian countries. Timely flood mapping can provide crucial information for flood relief efforts.