How Flood-y Was It? Developing a Climatological, Cloud-Based Portal to Monitor Floods in Real Time

Floods are one of the most common disasters in the US, totaling 28 billion dollars in damages since 2018. Strides have been made to predict floods, however, little has been done to analyze these events in a spatial and climatological context. NOAA’s NCEI reports on recent weather events such as heat, drought, wildfires and tornadoes. No such report on flooding exists, and with funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to enhance the National Water Model, it makes sense to leverage publicly available flood information, as well as AI and cloud innovations, to monitor events in real time.

This portal will address gaps in flood data management and information services to support monthly and annual flood event assessments. This program has 3 goals.1st, it will integrate known in-situ and satellite observations to build a hybrid flood product, and AI/ML methods will be performed to identify climatological information, including onset, duration, frequency, and spatial extent. The 2nd goal would be to utilize this product to provide monthly and annual narratives on recent floods, including spatial extent, seasonal unusualness, and socioeconomic impacts such as vulnerable populations and agricultural losses. 3rd, a cloud-ready, interactive GIS portal will be built displaying relevant flooding and socioeconomic information at the local level.

Furthermore, this project will help NCEI provide equitable flood products and services to a climate ready nation in two ways. 1st, it would utilize authoritative data to identify the climatological and spatial extent of, as well as populations vulnerable to, flooding extremes. 2nd, it would leverage NCEI’s Regional Climate Services - a nationwide network of regional centers, state and tribal partnerships - to work with underserved communities and better understand their climate and socioeconomic needs, to ensure equitable access, delivery, and public understanding of our flood products.