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From above, you see more - how satellites help in the fight against floods.

On Friday, in response to the deteriorating situation, the Crisis Information Centre of CBK PAN launched a special satellite monitoring system for the flood situation. This system detects areas where water has overflowed from riverbanks and where floodplains are forming. The operations are conducted in collaboration with the Polish-Finnish company ICEYE, which operates the largest civilian radar satellite constellation observing Earth. Data and reports are delivered every few hours to the State Fire Service, crisis management centers, and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute.

The activities of the Crisis Information Centre of CBK PAN represent the 'baptism of fire' for the Civil Security Hub in Poland, which is being established as part of the European Space Agency’s initiatives. The launch of the satellite information system for crisis management was initially planned for spring 2025, but due to the current situation, the solutions offered by the ICEYE constellation have been activated in an experimental mode. They are already providing information that is being used operationally. In the near future, satellite data, supported by data from unmanned aerial vehicles, will provide continuously available and intensively used informational support for rescue operations and crisis management. We are already using them, but not yet continuously and not as obviously as, for example, mobile phones. Meanwhile, in every crisis situation, especially during major events such as floods, information is a crucial element of the decision-making process. Precise, rapid, and reliable information supports actions taken by entities responsible for crisis management and, during flood response efforts, allows for determining the scale of the phenomenon and forecasting its development. This is critical for establishing action priorities and optimizing the forces and resources engaged in responding to the threat.

The maps show the maximum extent of water observed by ICEYE radar satellites around Kłodzko and south of the Nysa Kłodzka river up to the morning hours of Sunday, September 15.