ICEYE, the world leader in sovereign intelligence from space, has partnered with The Water Institute to bring the FloodID predictive flood intelligence platform and its development team into ICEYE. The agreement expands ICEYE’s flood analytics for governments, re/insurers and emergency management organizations in the US.
FloodID was developed at The Water Institute to forecast how flood events develop from onset through recession. The platform combines physics-based hydrologic modeling with AI, Earth observation data and cloud computing.
ICEYE will add FloodID’s predictive modeling to its existing satellite-based flood products. The company already provides early warning, active-event observation and post-event flood information through its synthetic aperture radar satellite constellation.
ICEYE’s Flood Early Warning service provides forecasts up to 96 hours before expected flooding. It combines global weather forecasts with basin susceptibility information and historical Earth observation data.
During active floods, ICEYE’s SAR satellites collect observations through clouds, heavy rain and darkness. Its Flood Rapid Impact and Flood Insights products then provide estimates of flood extent, water depth and building-level damage within hours of an event.
FloodID adds location-specific forecasts showing how flooding is expected to change over time. The platform was built on Amazon Web Services and received support through an Amazon grant.
The two systems will also support observation-informed forecasts that update when new satellite data becomes available. Rather than relying on one forecast issued at the beginning of an event, the model adjusts projections as ICEYE collects new observations.
This structure gives users updated information on where flooding has occurred and where it is expected to spread next. ICEYE said the approach is intended to support decisions before, during and after an event.
FloodID adds another important dimension to that capability by strengthening our predictive intelligence. The partnership adds forecasts of what is likely to happen next alongside ICEYE’s observed flood information.
Will Panchaud, Senior Director of Product, Solutions at ICEYE
The partnership follows earlier work between ICEYE, The Water Institute and Amazon. Researchers at The Water Institute used ICEYE’s Flood Rapid Impact and Flood Insights products while developing operational applications for FloodID.
FloodID was originally created for emergency managers responding to flooding in Louisiana. It has since expanded into an operational platform used in deployments and pilot programs with government agencies and emergency management organizations in several locations.
Beaux Jones, President and CEO of The Water Institute, said FloodID was developed to provide faster and more localized information during flood events. He said the ICEYE partnership gives the technology access to a broader group of communities and organizations.
Hugh J. Roberts, who previously led FloodID at The Water Institute, is joining ICEYE as Head of Predictive Intelligence. He will lead commercial development for predictive intelligence within ICEYE’s Solutions organization.
Roberts said FloodID was designed to work alongside Earth observation systems. Combining its hydrologic forecasts with ICEYE’s SAR observations gives users both predicted and observed information as conditions change.
Amazon’s disaster relief technology and innovation lead Jeffrey Schweitzer said recent floods have involved increasingly complex combinations of rainfall, storm surge and inland flooding. He said better advance information helps emergency organizations prepare before water levels rise.
The agreement adds predictive modeling to ICEYE’s existing flood observation services rather than replacing its satellite-based products. ICEYE will use FloodID alongside its early-warning and post-event tools to provide updated flood forecasts during active events.
ICEYE owns the world’s largest and most advanced SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation. To our customers we provide intelligence with unmatched quality, latency and revisit times, in any weather, day or night. To governments who choose to operate their own constellation we provide this proven capability as a sovereign system.
