GIS image showing the social vulnerability scores for Mexico City.
Team Location: Wise, Virginia, U.S.; Saltillo, Cohuila, Mexico
Authors: Bryant Counts, University of Virginia at Wise; Zahra Ehtesham, Central High School; Hector Hernandez, Monterrey Tech at Saltillo; Daniel Martinez, Monterrey Tech at Saltillo; Ryan O’Quinn, University of Virginia at Wise; Pedro Rodriguez Rivera, Mountain Empire Community College; Rohini Swaminathan, Purdue University; Fang Zhang , Ohio State University.
Advisors/Mentors: Dr. Kenton Ross, NASA Langley Research Center; Dr. Dewayne Cecil, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Dr. Vidal Garza Cant̼, Instituto TecnolÌ_gico de Estudios superiores de Monterrey; Dr. Aldo IvÌÁn Ramirez, Centro del Agua para America Latina y el Caribe; Yanina Colon, Wise DEVELOP; Giovanni Colberg, Wise DEVELOP.
Other Acknowledgement: Srinivas Sujith Kumar Balaram Mahanthi, University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
Abstract: Over the past decades, one of the most pressing issues in Mexico City, also known as the Federal District, has been a continuous set of flood occurrences. This project aimed to assist local management of this issue of frequent flooding through use of NASA’s Earth Observations. First, geo-physical aspects of the Federal District were analyzed to determine the areas which are most susceptible to flooding hazards. This project used remotely sensed data on elevation, surface reflectance, and precipitation rate. The primary instruments and platforms used for data acquisition were: the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) from the Terra satellite, Landsat 5’s Thematic Mapper and the sensors Microwave Imager (TMI), and the Precipitation Radar (PR) from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Second, socio-economic variables were gathered to determine the social vulnerability to natural hazards. Finally, hydrological models were used to provide flood predictions using physical and social vulnerability information, including the HAZUS-MH 2.1 (Hazards U.S. Multi-Hazard, Version 2.1) model.