[THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE]
The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) analyzed available satellite data following the enhanced Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) due to Typhoon Inday and released landslide and flooded area maps to concerned stakeholders.
Landslide and flooded areas from very high-resolution (VHR) satellite images
PhilSA produced flooded area maps from very high-resolution satellite images in Cotabato and Maguindanao del Sur. The flooded areas were observed from KOMPSAT-3 satellite imagery from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute captured on 14 July 2026 at 02:27 PM PhST. KOMPSAT-3 provides 0.7-meter spatial resolution, enabling detailed visual assessment of the reported location and its immediate surroundings. These flooded area maps are based solely on visual interpretation of satellite imagery and remain subject to ground validation
PhilSA also generated a landslide area map for Brgy. Ngingir, Calanogas, Lanao del Sur. The map shows the landslide area as observed on 13 July 2026 at approximately 10:41 AM PhST, using very high-resolution optical satellite imagery from Pléiades Neo satellite constellation of Airbus, a company headquartered in France. The reported landslide location provided by the NDRRMC Operations Center was visually inspected and verified against VHR satellite imagery.
Flood extents in CALABARZON and MIMAROPA using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data
PhilSA produced flood extent maps showing flooded areas in CALABARZON and MIMAROPA. The analysis used EOS-4 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite imagery from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) captured on 14 July 2026 at 06:05 PM PhST. The flooded areas were detected by analyzing the signal values in the captured radar image and separating flooded areas from non-flooded areas.
Similar analysis was done with data from the Canadian Space Agency for Mindanao using an image captured by RCM-1 on 12 July 2026 at 05:48 PM PhST.
SAR satellite imagery is useful in flood mapping because SAR signals can penetrate through clouds that often cover large areas during storms, and regardless of daylight conditions, unlike optical imagery. However, SAR may underestimate flooding in urban and densely vegetated areas because complex surfaces may affect the backscatter data being measured and reduce flood detection accuracy. These maps remain subject to ground validation.
International Cooperation in Using Space Data for DRRM
The analysis of satellite data from the space agencies, companies, and research institutions of Korea, France, India, Canada, and Europe were made possible due to international cooperation projects. Sentinel Asia is an international cooperation project led by JAXA and the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) that contributes to disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region. The International Charter: Space and Major Disasters is a network of space agencies and space system operators from around the world who work together to provide satellite imagery for disaster response purposes. CopPhil (or the National Copernicus Capacity Support Action Programme for the Philippines) established the Copernicus Mirror Site, providing free, open and immediate access to Copernicus data for users across the Philippines for applications that span DRRM, agriculture, and environmental monitoring.
PhilSA supported the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in monitoring the situation and prioritizing areas for response through the analysis of wide-area coverage satellite data. By making space data accessible to stakeholders, PhilSA enables informed decision-making and strengthens disaster response.
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