FLUJOS
Flood Justice utilizing Satellite Observation
FLUJOS is a collaborative co-production model that centers the lived experiences of local communities with remote sensing for flood detection. By leveraging satellite-based flood maps and the local expertise of community-based organizations and flood affected populations, this model challenges flood injustice.
We do this by:
building an open access history of satellite-observed inundation,
advancing advocacy opportunities by identifying the inequitable impact of flooding patterns on people and infrastructure,
contextualizing satellite-based flood data with the existing theories of change of community-based organizations to identify opportunities for empowerment and,
co-developing a tool, designed and evaluated by local communities, to further flood justice.
To build this library of flood maps, we utilize machine learning approaches to extract surface water imagery from five satellites (Landsat 8, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, MODIS, and PlanetScope) at various resolutions. The maps are assessed and ground truthed in field visits and community workshops to improve existing algorithms and assess the limits of satellite-based flood data in this region. The ultimate tool and the data created by this project will be made publicly available.
