30/01/2020 EMSR422 Floods in and Mediterranean coast,

​EMS INFORMATION BULLETIN Nr 422 THE COPERNICUS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICE

MONITORS IMPACT OF FLOOD IN SPAIN

From 20 to 23 January 2020, Spain was hit by Storm Gloria. On 20 January, heavy snowfall, heavy rain ​ ​ and strong winds affected several regions of Spain. According to media reports, in a man was ​ ​ ​ killed after being hit by a vehicle on a snowbound road and Airport was closed for 24 hours and 200 flights were disrupted. The Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) issued several red warnings, ​ ​ expecting winds of up to 130 km/h, seven-meter waves and heavy snowfall. The ports of and Gandia were closed to shipping traffic.

On 21 January, four fatalities were reported across the country. In the northeasterly province of Girona, ​ ​ 220,000 residents remained without power and 2500 km of roads were covered with snow.

On 22 January, nine additional fatalities and four missing were reported. A storm surge also swept 3 km ​ ​ ​ inland, devastating rice paddies and coastal features in the river delta and causing major damage to ​ ​ ​ beaches around , Valencia and areas of the . ​ On 23 January, the death toll rose to 13 with 4 missing and in the Balearic Islands, unusually high waves ​ ​ forced residents to evacuate their homes in several locations.

On the same day, the Copernicus EMS Rapid Mapping module was activated by the “Centro de Coordinacion Operativa (CECOP) de la Direccion General de Proteccion Civil y Emergencias” (Spanish Civil Protection Directorate) on behalf of the Civil Protection Agency of , for mapping areas in the region of Catalonia affected by Storm Gloria.

Based on very high resolution Cosmo-Skymed radar data, a First Estimate Product was published on 23 January and a delineation product on 24 January over the Area of Interest 01 (Girona Ter Tordera) in 2 which 1,537.1 ha (15.37 km )​ of flooded area were detected. For the AoI 02 (Torroella de Montgri), ​ located in the North-East part of AoI 01, a grading product was produced. It was published on 27 January using CNES/Airbus Spot7 optical imagery, acquired on 24 January. The grading product shows 2,546.4 ha 2 (25.46km )​ of flooded area and more than 100 buildings affected (at the time of image acquisition). ​

On 28 January, eight additional Areas of Interest were added, in order to inform the Directorate of Coasts of the Spanish Ministry for a Sustainable Ecological Transition about the damages to coastal areas, incl. in the region of Valencia, and to the town of Calarajada (on the island of ).

For Denia (AoI03), Jucar Gandia (AoI09) and Cala Rajada (AoI10) no impact was detected in the CNES/Airbus Pléiades satellite imagery acquired on 26 January.

Using Pléiades-1A imagery acquired on 26 January, delineation products for Valencia Sur (AoI05), Castellon Sur (AoI06) and Javea (AoI04) (published on 29 January) were produced. A cumulative area of 75.2 ha (4 km²) with flood traces was reported. On the same day and using the same image, a further delineation product was published for the Delta of Ebro (AoI07), further north. In this case, a total 2 flooded area of 4,525.2 ha (45.25 km )​ was detected. As for Maresme (AoI08), cloud cover has so far ​ prevented the acquisition of useable satellite images.

In total 11 products, incl. 9 maps, were produced.

The maps and vector data are available for viewing and download on the EMS Website: https://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/list-of-components/EMSR422/. ​ For updates on our activations, follow Copernicus EMS on Twitter. ​ ​ Learn more about the Copernicus Programme and its Emergency Management Service online. ​ ​ ​ ​

The delineation map of the area around the Delta of Ebro (Spain), showing 4,525.2 ha (45.25 km²) of flooded area at the time of satellite imagery acquisition (Copernicus EMS © 2020 EU, [EMSR 422: Delta Del Ebro - Spain: Delineation Overview map 01]). ​ ​

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)

Copernicus is the European Union Earth Observation and Monitoring Programme. ​ The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) uses satellite imagery and other geospatial data ​ to provide free of charge mapping service in cases of large natural disasters, human-made emergency situations and humanitarian crises throughout the world. The maps are produced in two temporal modes:

● 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.

The EMS can be triggered only by or through an Authorised User (AU). 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. 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.

Interested Users may trigger the service by sending a Service Request Form (SRF) directly to the ​ ​ European Response Coordination Centre (ERCC): [email protected]. ​ ​ ​ The Copernicus EMS also provides Forest Fire (EFFIS), Floods (EFAS) and Drought (EDO) Early Warning ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ products for Europe as well as at global level.

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