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Cloud to Street is a global platform for mapping and monitoring floods and flood risk at high resolution and in partnership with local users. Eleven national governments rely on our tools to respond to disasters faster and reduce risks long-term.
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The UN uses satellites to tailor aid as the Republic of Congo recovers from the worst floods in 20 years
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In October and November, the Republic of Congo faced the worst floods since 1999, affecting over 170,000 people. As the devastations of flooding last long after the waters begin to recede, now is the time for critical decisions that will determine the success of recovery, relief, and resilience-building.
The UN World Food Programme Congo office is leveraging Cloud to Street's platform to monitor where and when the floodwaters are receding. This information will enable the WFP to stretch aid to areas that remain food insecure and push the economy to bounce back more quickly — a distinctively data-driven approach that leapfrogs conventional disaster relief methods.
Monitoring croplands is critical to this relief — because, as a country officer told us, cropland can be understood as a proxy for food security. For communities with waterlogged cassava fields, aid can take the form of basic food and resources; for those those with viable upcoming harvests, aid can take the form of cash infusions, job training programs, and infrastructure rebuilding. With advanced data, the WFP can better tailor the recovery — in a manner which is financially and environmentally sustainable — that each community needs, centering the neediest and most vulnerable.
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2019: A year of historic floods
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In 2019, Cloud to Street mapped floods in Burundi, the Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
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Dr. Venkataraman Lakshmi, Professor and American Society of Civil Engineers Fellow, joins Science Advisory Board
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We are thrilled to announce that Venkat is bringing his expertise in catchment hydrology, satellite data validation and assimilation, field experiments, land-atmosphere interactions, satellite data downscaling, and water resources to our Science Advisory Board.
A professor at the University of Virginia and a former researcher and panelist at NASA, he is also a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and has published 100 peer-reviewed articles.
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Khartoum's late August floods
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Over 60 lives were lost across Sudan in flooding in Late August. Watch us analyze—in real color, false color, and with a flood layer overlay (all pansharpened to 30 cm resolution)—floods in a neighborhood in Khartoum. Collapsed homes and overturned buses can be seen in the lower right corner.
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Chief Science Officer Dr. Beth Tellman's Columbia University seminar examines the potential of satellite-based flood maps
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Watch a recording of her seminar here.
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Welcome our new team members
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We're looking for a creative and agile Administrative and Communications Associate to spearhead administrative and organizational processes while leading our social media presence — and this monthly newsletter. Apply by February 20th.
We're also looking for a best-in-class Research Scientist with a focus on Machine Learning and Remote Sensing Data Assimilation to lead innovation to downscale passive microwave sensors using radar and optical high resolution flood maps. Apply by February 24th.
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