Project Team: Mekong Disasters Team
Team Location: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

A 3-D image depicting monsoonal flooding (red) on Sept. 3, 2006. The Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, can be found in the center, marked by a star.

Authors:
Jason Abkowitz (University of Maryland, College Park)
Colin Doyle (Georgetown University)
Alexa Nieves (University of Maryland, College Park)
Sam Weber (Virginia Polytechnic Institute)

Mentors/Advisors:
Dr. John Bolten (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Stu Frye (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Fritz Policelli (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Dan Slayback (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
Joseph Spruce (Senior Research Scientist, Computer Sciences Corporation; Science Advisor)

Abstract:

The Lower Mekong Water Basin is the largest river basin in Southeast Asia, home to more than 60 million people. The region has seen rapid population growth and socio-economic development accompanied by deforestation, expansion of agriculture, and stream-flow regulation. The basin supports a large amount of rice farming and other agriculture, which heavily depends upon seasonal flooding. This project created flood impact assessment maps to gain a better understanding of flood-prone areas in the region. They were then compared against other flood-warning products for the area and integrated into the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites Disaster Risk Management Observation Strategy in a Web-based ‰Û÷Flood Dashboard.’ åÊThese primary goals were achieved using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250m products and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index values to derive flood-impact maps

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