EMS INFORMATION BULLETIN Nr 144

16/07/2021

EMSR517 – Flood in Western Germany EMSR518 – Flood in Belgium EMSR519 – Flood in Switzerland EMSR520 – Flood in The Netherlands EMS INFORMATION BULLETIN Nr 144

THE COPERNICUS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICE The Copernicus Emergency Management Service forecasts, notifies, and monitors devastating floods in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland

CEMS flood forecasting and notifying in Germany

On 9 and 10 July, flood forecasts by the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service indicated a high probability of flooding for the Rhine River basin, affecting Switzerland and Germany. Subsequent forecasts also indicated a high risk of flooding for the Meuse River basin, affecting Belgium. The magnitude of the floods forecasted for the Rhine River basin increased significantly in this period. The first EFAS notifications were sent to the relevant national authorities starting on 10 July and, with the continuously updated forecasts, more than 25 notifications were sent for specific regions of the Rhine and Meuse River basins in the following days until 14 July.

Figure: EFAS flood forecast from 12.07.2021 00:00 UTC

Providing early and current maps of flooded areas

On 13 July, the CEMS Rapid Mapping component was activated to map the ongoing floods in parts of Western Germany (EMSR517 Mapping Website , EMSR517 Activation Viewer). As a flood peak was foreseen on 16 July for segments of other rivers, CEMS preemptively acquired satellite images of the vulnerable area through Pre-Tasking on 14 July. These early images informed ensuing activations by the CEMS Rapid Mapping component based on the EFAS forecasts for areas in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and France.

In Germany, the extension of the floods in six areas is currently being analysed in the south-east of the country: Moselle, Ahr, Pruem and Kyll rivers. The German authorised user has asked CEMS to monitor other towns and rivers reported as already affected or at very high risk. These include the towns of Hagen, Altena, Erkrath und Düsseldorf, and areas along the rivers Düssel/Nördliche Düssel, Rur, Erft, Agger and Sieg.

A first flood map was produced on 14 July over the Rhine River, based on a satellite image acquired on the same day, but in which no impact of flooding was detected. Additional products were delivered on 16 July (based on a satellite image acquired on the 15th) showing substantial flooding. Monitoring products will follow up on the 16th. Increased areal visibility from weather conditions will allow acquisitions of optical imagery to be attempted for the 17th. These images will be used to perform a damage assessment.

Monitoring worsening floods in Belgium

The Belgian authorities requested the activation of the CEMS Rapid Mapping Component on the 14th July to map the ongoing floods (EMSR518 Mapping Website , EMSR518 Activation Viewer).

In Belgium, they are around the towns of Liège and Rochefort (north-east of the country) are being monitored. CEMS flood delineation products were delivered on 15 and 16 July, showing the extent and location of the flooding along the Meuse River. 1583ha (15.83 km2) of flooded area was detected on the satellite image (acquired on the 15th of July), located mostly in the surroundings of the towns of Maastricht, Maaseik, Rochefort and Durbuy. Monitoring products will follow up on the 16th. Considering the improvement of the weather, optical acquisitions will be attempted on the 17th in order to produce damage assessments.

Rapid Mapping activated for Floods in Switzerland

The Swiss authorities requested the activation of the Rapid Mapping on 15 July for the area around Bern, following floods in the Aare River basin (EMSR519 Mapping Website , EMSR519 Activation Viewer)

The first map is expected to be delivered on 16 July.

Rapid Mapping activated for Floods in the Netherlands

The Dutch authorities requested the activation of the CEMS Rapid Mapping component on 16 July for the area around and north of Maastricht to analyse the Meuse River basin (basin (EMSR520 Mapping Website , EMSR520 Activation Viewer)

The first map is expected to be delivered on 16 or 17 July based on when the peak of the event is expected.

The maps and vector data are or will be available for viewing and download on the Copernicus EMS Website:

• https://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/list-of-components/EMSR517 • https://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/list-of-components/EMSR518 • https://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/list-of-components/EMSR519 • https://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/list-of-components/EMSR520

For updates on our activations, follow Copernicus EMS on Twitter.

Learn more about the Copernicus programme and its Emergency Management Service online.

For more information contact [email protected] Follow our Twitter feed @CopernicusEMS where maps and vector data are posted automatically in near real-time

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE COPERNICUS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICE (EMS)

The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS)1, one of the six Copernicus services, provides information for emergency response in relation to different types of disasters, including meteorological hazards, geophysical hazards, deliberate and accidental man-made disasters and other humanitarian disasters, as well as prevention, preparedness, response and recovery activities. Beneficiary end users of EMS include entities and organisations at regional, national, European and international level actors in the field of civil protection and humanitarian aid. CEMS consists of two main components, as outlined below:

1. The CEMS Mapping component provides, upon activation by Authorised Users2, timely and accurate information derived from satellite or airborne image data, during all phases of the disaster management cycle. The information generated can be used as provided (e.g. as digital or printed map outputs), or further combined with other data sources (e.g. as digital feature sets in a geographic information system) to support geospatial analysis and decision-making processes by disaster managers. The following three modules are in place: ● Rapid Mapping consists of the provision of geospatial information in support of emergency management activities immediately following a disaster. Different types of maps are produced: the Reference product to ascertain the situation before the event, the First Estimate product and the Delineation product to assess the geographical extent of the event with respectively a rough or detailed assessment, or the Grading product to evaluate the magnitude and impact of the damage resulting from the event. ● Risk & Recovery Mapping consists of the provision of geospatial information in support of disaster management activities that are not related to immediate emergency response but rather to pre-disaster risk assessment or post-disaster recovery monitoring. This applies to activities dealing with prevention, preparedness, disaster risk reduction and recovery phases. ● Validation is tailored to the on-demand verification of a sample of outputs produced by the above two mapping modes, support services, and the early warning services (see below). It includes external quality control, validation of thematic information content and comparison with alternative information sources related to the specific emergency context. 2. CEMS Early Warning and Monitoring component provides early warning, risk and impact assessment, and monitoring of specific natural hazards. Currently this component addresses floods, forest fires and droughts, as follows: ● The European and Global Flood Awareness Systems (EFAS & GloFAS) provide complementary flood forecast information to relevant stakeholders supporting flood risk

1 https://emergency.copernicus.eu/ 2 Authorised Users include the National Focal Points (NFPs) of the EU Member States and countries participating in the Copernicus programme, as well as European Commission services and the European External Action Service (EEAS), including the EU Delegations. Interested Users may trigger the service by sending a Service Request Form (SRF) directly to the European Response Coordination Centre (ERCC): [email protected].

management at national, regional and global level. Registered Users have access to the full functionality of EFAS & GloFAS. ● The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) monitors forest fire activity in NRT, in Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and supports wildfire management at national and regional scales. Globally, the JRC leads development of the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS). ● The European and Global Drought Observatories (EDO & GDO) provide drought-relevant information and early warnings for Europe and globally, publishing short analytical reports in the case of imminent droughts, and connecting drought data providers and users from global to regional levels.

The Copernicus programme

Copernicus, the European Earth Observation and Monitoring Programme, is served by dedicated satellites (the family of Copernicus Sentinels) and a set of Contributing Missions (additional satellites from existing commercial and national agencies). Since the launch of Sentinel-1A in 2014, the European Union set in motion a process to place a constellation of almost 20 more satellites in orbit before 2030. Today, seven fully operational Sentinel satellites (Sentinel-1A and -B, Sentinel-2A and -B, Sentinel-3A and -B and Sentinel-5P) are in orbit to continually provide operational satellite information. This satellite data is complemented by and validated with in situ data.

Six Copernicus Services transform the full, free and open data into value-added information by processing and analysing the data to transform them into services and products such as informative maps, data sets and reports.

These six services are:

● The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service ● The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service ● The Copernicus Land Monitoring Service ● The Copernicus Climate Change Service ● The Copernicus Emergency Management Service ● The Copernicus Security Service

Copernicus is coordinated and managed by DG GROW in the European Commission. It is implemented in partnership with the EU Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), EU Agencies and Mercator Ocean. The European Commission Joint Research Centre offers the technical support of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service whilst the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of DG ECHO assists civil protection actors with the handling of the EMS mapping requests on a 24/7 basis.

For more information Copernicus website: copernicus.eu Copernicus Emergency Management Service website: emergency.copernicus.eu

On Twitter @CopernicusEMS