Over the summer, UNOSAT introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based method in its operational emergency mapping service by reducing the process to a fraction of the time normally needed.

Thanks to its extensive experience in rapid mapping, UNOSAT has collected a vast library of historical flood datasets, which are extremely useful to develop machine learning-based methods. By using AI, satellite-based analysis and related mapping are completed in considerably less time. The process is almost fully automated. This not only informs the decision-making process to help optimize the disaster response, but it also has the potential to significantly reduce the loss of life and mitigate structural damage, particularly in the context of humanitarian operations, thus supporting both national authorities and international emergency management organizations for the benefit of local populations.

During the past year, UNOSAT’s team, in collaboration with Wuhan University and UN Global Pulse, trained machines extensively to process satellite images and detect water much more rapidly in comparison to semi-automatic methods. With this new approach, radar images from the European Space Agency (ESA) [1] are automatically downloaded, orthorectified and processed by UNOSAT’s AI model to output disaster maps, with limited need for human intervention.

In recent months, UNOSAT’s Rapid Mapping Service has been monitoring the situation related to seasonal rains and potential floods in the Asia-Pacific region with a particular focus on countries potentially affected by the southwest monsoon season that runs from June to September 2020. In this context, we ran the AI algorithm for the first time in July 2020 for operations in Bangladesh. UNOCHA, in close coordination with other UN entities and the Bangladesh authorities, contacted UNOSAT on July 13, 2020, to assess the needs after monsoon rains flooded a large part of the country, in particular along the Brahmaputra River and in the northeastern parts of the country in the Sylhet district. To respond to this activation, UNOSAT decided to trigger the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters, and apply both automated and semi-automated analysis methods.