Disaster Analysis 2019

NASS can now monitor agricultural disasters in near real-time and provide quantitative assessments using remotely sensed data and geospatial techniques. This page provides disaster assessments in geospatial data format, reports, and metadata as available. A flood monitoring methodology paper is located here.

Kincade Fire (October-November 2019)

From October 23, 2019 to November 6, 2019, the Kincade Fire burned in Sonoma County, California, ignited during an extreme wind event. As of November 6, it was the largest wildfire in the 2019 California wildfire season, and largest ever to occur in Sonoma County. The United States Department of Agricultural National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries of burned grape vines when the fire was near containment. Active fire location polygon data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) Open Data National Incident Feature Service (NIFS) was obtained on November 4, 2019, and combined with 2014 Land IQ raster data that identified land cover. The resulting map shows the percent of grapes within the Kincade Fire perimeter.

Files available for download: Synopsis

Map of Kincade Fire, Sonoma County, CA (November 4, 2019)

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Hurricane Dorian (September 2019)

Hurricane Dorian impacted areas of the eastern United States, including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia from September 3 – 7, 2019 with heavy rainfall, strong winds, and storm surges. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries regarding the extent of flooding from Hurricane Dorian over agricultural land in near-real time. Consequently, a flood mapping procedure, based on Copernicus Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar data and the NASS Cropland Data Layer, was implemented in response to the flood event. The data, maps, and reports below identify the extent of inundation over cropland and pasture based on this analysis. The crop inundation layers are publically available for download.

Files available for download: Assessment Report | Raster Data Zipfile | Wind Swath Zipfile | Synopsis | Metadata

Map of Hurrican Dorian (Sept 2019)

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Tropical Storm Barry (July 2019)

Tropical Storm Barry impacted areas of Louisiana, eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, southeast Missouri, and northwest Mississippi, United States from July 12 – 15, 2019 with heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surges. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries regarding the extent of flooding from Tropical Storm Barry over agricultural land in near real-time. Consequently, a recently developed flood mapping procedure, based on Copernicus Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar data and the NASS Cropland Data Layer, was implemented in response to the flood event. The data, maps, and reports below identify the extent of inundation over cropland and pasture based on this analysis. There are several causes for anomalous water, which could include flooding, saturated fields from rainfall, ponding, or intentionally flooded rice and aquaculture fields. The crop inundation layers are publically available for download.

Files available for download: Assessment Report | Raster Data Zipfile | Synopsis | Metadata

Map of Tropical Storm Barry (July 2019)

Download higher resolution map: PNG | PDF


Missouri River Long-Term Flood Analysis (April/May/June 2019)

During the spring of 2019, the Missouri River Valley experienced heavy spring rains that breached several levies. These prolonged weather events presented an ongoing struggle to understand how many acres of agricultural land were affected in Kansas and Nebraska along the Missouri River. Multi-month flooding analysis was performed to compare the effects of these precipitation events. Using a Copernicus Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar base image dated in October of the previous year, NASS determined inundated agricultural areas (as defined by the 2018 NASS Cropland Data Layer) for five dates ranging from April 4, 2019 to June 27, 2019. The data and maps below were shared with the State Emergency Boards in Kansas and Nebraska. The map shown below shows the first of five inundation maps created; all five inundation maps and datasets are available for download.

Files available for download: Synopsis | Metadata | Raster Data Zipfile | Maps (PDF) Zipfile | Maps (PNG) Zipfile

Map of Missouri River Inundation (April 4, 2019)

Download higher resolution map: PNG | PDF


Missouri and Illinois Flooding (May/June 2019)

The central United States experienced severe flooding during late May and early June, 2019. The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) responded to inquiries regarding the extent of flooding over agricultural land in Missouri and surrounding states. Water extent data (dates ranging from May 22 to June 11) from the NASA Disasters Program were used to determine anomalous water over cropland and pasture areas as derived from the 2018 NASS Cropland Data Layer program. The data and maps below identify the extent of anomalous water over cropland and pasture based on these data. There are several causes for anomalous water, which could include flooding, saturated fields from rainfall, ponding, or intentionally flooded rice fields. The crop inundation layers are publically available for download.

Files available for download: Raster Data Zipfile | Synopsis | Metadata

Map of Missouri and Illinois Flooding (May/June 2019)

Download higher resolution map: PNG | PDF



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Last Modified: 03/20/2024