Investigations of Hail Damage Swaths using Various
Satellite Remote Sensing Platforms (106)
Jordan Bell, University
of Alabama in Huntsville Earth System Science Center/NASA SPoRT, Huntsville, AL
Lori Schultz, University
of Alabama in Huntsville Earth System Science Center/NASA SPoRT
Andrew Molthan, NASA
Marshall Space Flight Center Earth Science Branch/NASA SPoRT
Abstract:
Severe thunderstorms during
the growing season present a combination of hazards to agriculture and other
surface vegetation. Traditional optical satellite remote sensing instruments
have been used to identify and map the damage regions through use of vegetation
indices, land surface temperatures, and their localized anomalies or departures
from climatology. While optical remote sensors are plentiful and provide
routine observations, they can be limited by cloud cover that obscures the land
surface. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an active sensing strategy that can
penetrate cloud cover in many currently operating wavelengths and provide
imaging regardless of the time of day. This presentation will demonstrate how
combined optical and SAR remote sensing can be applied to identify severe
thunderstorm and hail damage to agriculture in two cases studies: 18 June 2016
in northwest Iowa and 21 June 2017 in eastern South Dakota and western
Minnesota, significant events with clear signals in a variety of sensors. The
presentation will highlight the magnitude of change between damaged and
undamaged areas, use radar-estimated hail size and storm reports to confirm
interpretation, and educate potential end-users on how to use SAR in conjunction
with optical datasets.