Satellite data played an important role in the assessment of Cyclone Nargis

Landsat satellite imagery acquired shortly before and after Cyclone Nargis over Myanmar revealed the extent of flood damage and provided a guidance for rescue work. For more information visit USGS 

Images above acquired on May 3 (left) and May 5 (right), 2008 are courtesy of USGS.

The expanded blue area beneath the clouds in the May 5 image illustrates the flooding caused by the cyclone. The delta region, which is home to one fourth of Myanmar’s 57 million people, is a major agricultural area, and its lowlands make it especially susceptible to flooding.

This map illustrates satellite-detected flood waters over the affected Yangon, capital of Myanmar as of 5 May 2008. Red areas shown in the map represent standing flood waters identified from Landsat 7 satellite Imagery acquired on 5 May 2008 at a spatial resolution of 28.5m. Blue areas represent pre-flood waters identified from Landsat 7 acquired on 18 March 2008. This flood detection is a preliminary analysis and has not yet been validated in the field.

See more Cyclone Nargis product maps here