Space-Based Detection of Significant Water-Depth Increase Induced by Hurricane Irma in the Everglades Wetlands Using Sentinel-1 SAR Backscatter Observations

Extreme rainfall, induced by severe weather events, such as hurricanes, impacts wetlands because rapid water-depth increases can lead to flora and fauna mortality. This study developed an innovative algorithm to detect significant water-depth increases (SWDI, defined as water-depth increases above a threshold) in wetlands, using Sentinel-1 SAR backscatter. We used Hurricane Irma as an example that made landfall in the south Florida Everglades wetlands in September 2017 and produced tremendous rainfall. The algorithm detects SWDI for during- and post-event SAR acquisition dates, using pre-event water-depth as a baseline. The algorithm calculates Normalized Difference Backscatter Index (NDBI), using pre-, during-, and post-event backscatter, at a 20-m SAR resolution, as an indicator of the likelihood of SWDI, and detects SWDI using all NDBI values in a 400-m resolution pixel. The algorithm successfully detected large SWDI areas for the during-event date and progressive expansion of non-SWDI areas (water-depth differences less than the threshold) for five post-event dates in the following two months. The algorithm achieved good performance in both ‘herbaceous dominant’ and ‘trees embedded within herbaceous matrix’ land covers, with an overall accuracy of 81%. This study provides a solution for accurate mapping of SWDI and can be used in global wetlands, vulnerable to extreme rainfall.