Summary
- Kenya can tap the technology to help mitigate problems such as floods.
- The experiences seasonal floods in certain regions such as Budalangi, Kano Plains and several parts of North Eastern and Coastal counties.
- Currently, lakes Baringo, Nakuru and other Rift Valley water bodies have breached their shores, destroying property worth billions and lives.
- Several multi-billion tourist hotels, lodges and tented camps are among business establishments that have been hit hard by the swelling Lake Baringo waters.
Radar science that was originally used in defence industry now has several applications in civilian and commercial realms.
Kenya can tap the technology to help mitigate problems such as floods.
The
experiences seasonal floods in certain regions such as Budalangi, Kano
Plains and several parts of North Eastern and Coastal counties.
Currently,
lakes Baringo, Nakuru and other Rift Valley water bodies have breached
their shores, destroying property worth billions and lives.
Several
multi-billion tourist hotels, lodges and tented camps are among
business establishments that have been hit hard by the swelling Lake
Baringo waters.
The businesses that were already reeling under the weight of the
Covid-19 pandemic, have now been submerged triggering economic losses
worth millions of shillings.
Radar satellite data
provides an intelligent way of studying flood patterns and forming
science-based decisions. Unlike other sources, petabytes of
high-resolution radar data exist from missions like European Space
Agency’s Sentinel satellites free.
Governments, researchers, students and investors can use the data to create early flood-warning systems.
Anybody who has interacted with young people are familiar with the slang “rada”. It loosely translates plans or status update.
Just like its use in street lingo, radar has always been associated with advanced or warning functions.
The United Kingdom Royal Airforce (RAF) used it during World War II to warn and prepare troops of impending danger.
Having
witnessed the havoc that the German military had caused in Spain and
neighbouring European countries, the UK embarked on a search for an
early warning system.
The answer was on what is now
famously known as the “Chain Home System”, which were a series of about
354-foot towers that could detect the oncoming German planes before
reaching any British Coast.
Radar is a technology that
emerged by mimicking biology. Just like birds influenced development of
planes, crabs inspired military tanks and fish influenced submarine,
radar mimicked bat.
Bats do not have eyes for sight
but instead use reflected sound (echo) to detect objects. The same is
the basic principle of radar, except that radio waves are used instead
of sound.
Whenever there is a threat of floods,
especially during heavy rains, radar technology can be used to quantify
the extent of water and location of safe areas.
There
exist several radar satellites. The satellites are usually located a
hundred of kilometers above earth and continuously send radio waves to
the ground and measure the backscattered signal.
During
flooding, the surface of water bodies is relatively uniform; hence, the
incident radio wave from the satellite will be reflected to a different
direction that cannot be picked by the satellite. The flooded areas
appears dark to the radar.
This is not the case with
surrounding features such as grass, trees, buildings and other
artificial objects. Due to non-uniformity in their surface, some of the
incident wave will be reflected and the backscatter unrecorded by the
satellite. They will appear bright.
By processing the
backscattered signals recorded by the satellite to images, the flooded
areas can be identified. Since a single satellite image can cover an
area larger than the size of Narok County, detecting flooded areas over
such a region is possible from a single image.
Once
analysed, the images can give an in-depth understanding of the extent of
damage and reveal safer grounds where affected population can move.
Bonface
Osoro is a postgraduate student at University of Strathclyde, United
Kingdom with keen interest on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) communication, radar
and navigation satellites
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