A METHOD TO GENERATE FLOOD MAPS IN 3D USING DEM AND DEEP LEARNING

Abstract. High-resolution remote sensing imagery has been increasingly used for flood applications. Different methods have been proposed for flood extent mapping from creating water index to image classification from high-resolution data. Among these methods, deep learning methods have shown promising results for flood extent extraction; however, these two-dimensional (2D) image classification methods cannot directly provide water level measurements. This paper presents an integrated approach to extract the flood extent in three-dimensional (3D) from UAV data by integrating 2D deep learning-based flood map and 3D cloud point extracted from a Structure from Motion (SFM) method. We fine-tuned a pretrained Visual Geometry Group 16 (VGG-16) based fully convolutional model to create a 2D inundation map. The 2D classified map was overlaid on the SfM-based 3D point cloud to create a 3D flood map. The floodwater depth was estimated by subtracting a pre-flood Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from the SfM-based DEM. The results show that the proposed method is efficient in creating a 3D flood extent map to support emergency response and recovery activates during a flood event.