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Observation of concentrated heavy rain in Pakistan by AVNIR-2 onboard "Daichi" (ALOS) (5)

Northwestern Pakistan in the central Asia has been seriously damaged due to floods and mudslides caused by heavy rain which had occurred continuously since July 29, 2010.

Press reported that disaster by floods spread from north to south in Pakistan, bridges and roads collapsed and land route was shut. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has performed the observation to monitor the state of the damage by the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2)* onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS, "Daichi") at 15:29 (JST) or 6:29 (UTC) on August 23, 2010 further to August 3, 5, 6 and 15, 2010.

Fig. 1 shows an observed image and is assigned band 3, 2 and 1 of AVNIR-2 for red, green, blue as the true color composite. White colored areas show clouds, swollen rivers and floods at agricultural land could be seen.
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Fig.1
Fig.1: AVNIR-2 image with 31.2 degree pointing angle acquired at 15:29 on August 23, 2010 (JST). Yellow squares show location of Figs. 2 and 3.

Fig. 2 shows enlarged images of flooded areas, which were taken after disaster on August 23, 2010 (left) and mosaic image of before disaster on March 23 and April 9, 2010 (right). It is located at Sukkur (700 km south-southwest from Islamabad). It is assigned band 4, 3 and 2 of AVNIR-2 for red, green, and blue as the false color composite, therefore vegetation can be seen in red color and flood areas can be done clear in light blue color.

Fig. 3 shows enlarged images of Hyderabad (1,200 km south-southwest from Islamabad), which were taken after disaster on August 23, 2010 (left) and before disaster on March 23, 2009 (right).

In comparison to both images taken on before and after the disaster, flooded area along the Indus river basin expand extremely wide.
Fig.2
Fig.2: Enlarged images of the swollen rivers at Sakkur (3,600 square kilometers, left: August 23, 2010; right: March 23 and April 9, 2010).
(Click to view enlarged image)
Fig.3
Fig.3: Enlarged images of the swollen rivers at Hyderabad (900 square kilometers, left: August 23, 2010; right: March 23, 2010).
(Click to view enlarged image)
The submerged area could be calculated approximately 7,000 square kilometers or 700,000 hectares from the AVNIR-2 image acquired on May 30, 2010 and before the disaster.

JAXA plans continuous observation of this region.

* Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2):

AVNIR-2 is a visible and near infrared radiometer for observing land and coastal zones.

It provides 10-m spatial-resolution image and 70-km swath on the ground. The pointing angle of AVNIR-2 is +44 and - 44 degrees. The images taken after disaster on August 23, 2010 is acquired by 31.2 degrees east and before disaster on March 23 and April 9, 2010 were acquired by 0.0 degree, respectively.

Reference

2010/8/18: Observation of concentrated heavy rain in Pakistan by AVNIR-2 onboard "Daichi" (ALOS) (4).
2010/8/10: Emergency observation of concentrated heavy rain in Pakistan by AVNIR-2 onboard "Daichi" (ALOS) (3).
2010/8/9: Emergency observation of concentrated heavy rain in Pakistan by AVNIR-2 onboard "Daichi" (ALOS) (2).
2010/8/5: Emergency observation of concentrated heavy rain in Pakistan by AVNIR-2 onboard "Daichi" (ALOS).
JAXA EORC