Flood Affected Area Atlas of India

At the behest of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), NRSC/ISRO has prepared the Flood Affected Area Atlas for India using the available historical satellite datasets spanning over 25 years (1998 to 2022).

Flood affected area maps are one of the very important non-structural methods of flood damage mitigation. These maps are useful in planning and regulating developmental activities in flood plains, construction of relief, rescue, and health centres. Satellites provide synoptic observations of the natural disasters at regular intervals that help in disaster risk reduction in the country. Over a period of time, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO has created a repository of large data pertaining to the floods & cyclones in different areas of the Country. These historical flood maps, generated by NRSC/ISRO, are useful for identification of flood affected areas.

Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite and foreign satellite datasets (optical and microwave) during this period were acquired covering different flood magnitudes in India and used in generating the flood affected area maps after its thorough analysis. Water levels of various gauge stations during the period 1998 to 2022 has been obtained from Central Water Commission and used for the preparation of flood affected area atlas of India. These state level flood maps are validated by the state disaster management organizations of major flood-prone states.

District / State wise flood affected area statistics were presented along with the State Maps and India Map in the Atlas. Digital spatial maps are hosted on National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM) geoportal of ISRO. The Atlas would be useful as a resource of information for policy makers, planners and civil society groups and find its value towards flood risk evaluation, sustainable development and flood mitigation efforts in India. This atlas will be useful in preparing disaster management action plans at state level and in disaster risk reduction in the country.

The atlas can be accessed at

https://www.nrsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/pdf/DMSP/FloodAffectedAreaAtlas_Digital.pdf