Making landfall in the US state of North Carolina on 14 September, Hurricane Florence is causing widespread damage and flooding. The Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar mission is being used to map affected areas.

Although this mighty hurricane was downgraded to a category 1 storm before it made landfall, the momentum the storm generated on its long trip across the Atlantic remains. Storm surges and flooding are therefore similar to that associated with a category 4 storm.

With lives and property at risk, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service was standing by - even before storm hit land - ready to map the floods to help relief efforts.

Source: ESA

Image credit: ESA/ATG medialab - Sentinel-1: seeing through clouds. As an advanced radar mission, Sentinel-1 can image the surface of Earth through cloud and rain and regardless of whether it is day or night.

Related Missions:

• Copernicus: Sentinel-1