Share icon
Date

The NASA Earth Applied Science Disasters Program has activated for Hurricane Isaias to provide support to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and US Southern Command. 

Tropical Storm Isaias formed in the eastern Caribbean the evening of Wednesday, July 29, 2020, bringing heavy rainfall and winds to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic before developing into a Category 1 hurricane as it approached the Bahamas early on Friday, July 31. Isaias weakened on Saturday afternoon to a tropical storm as it continued up the eastern coast of Florida. Tropical Storm Isaias is anticipated to strengthen to a hurricane prior to making landfall in the Carolinas the evening of August 3 and is projected to then gradually weaken as it continues up the eastern seaboard.

Hurricane Isaias traveling northwest between Cuba and the Bahamas on Friday, July 31, 2020, as seen from the International Space Station. Credits: NASA/Astronaut Col. Doug Hurley
Hurricane Isaias traveling northwest between Cuba and the Bahamas on Friday, July 31, 2020, as seen from the International Space Station. Credits: NASA/Astronaut Col. Doug Hurley

The Disasters Program is investigating available imagery through the following NASA-funded program ROSES projects. These projects will potentially provide damage mapping, flood risk modeling, landslide mapping, and flood mapping:

  • A.37 Global Rapid Damage Mapping System with Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Data – damage mapping
  • A.37 Advancing Access to Global Flood Modeling and Alerting using the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) DisasterAWARE Platform and Remote Sensing Technologies – flood risk modeling
  • A.37 Enabling Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction and Response throughout the Disaster Life Cycle with a Multi-scale Toolbox
  • A.50 Group on Earth Observation (GEO) Work Programme Global Rapid Flood Mapping Project

The team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston has submitted a targeting request to the International Space Station for astronaut photography of the storm to be shared, if available. The Disasters Program intends to also reach out to U.S. stakeholders in the potentially affected areas.