Flood damage assessment in southeastern Arizona (near upper Gila River) using ERTS-1 imager

Morrison, R. B.

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ASSESSMENT OF FLOOD DAMAGE IN AR!ZONA BY MEANS OF ERTS-1 
IMAGERY 
Roger 6. Morrison, U. S Geological & m y ,  &mm, ~ I o m f o  
ABSTRACT 
ERIS-! MSS images clearly show two important effects of a large flood in southeastern 
Arizona - the extent of inundation and the areas affected by severe sediment deposition and 
erosion - although the i m a , ~  were made a wleek and a half after the flood- On October 
20 and 21, 1972. the upper Gila River had its second-largest flood on r e d  Peak flows 
attained about 42000 and 82,000 cubic feet a second at Duncan and Safford, Arizona, re- 
spectively. Six lives were lost, hundreds of people ma& homeless, and more than 10,000 
acres of aopiand inmdatzd. 
The fmt ERTS-1 images after the flood were made on November 1 and 2 The inun- 
dated.area is best displayed on the infrared ban& particularly on band 7, where it appears 
as a belt along the river that is distinctly darker than the adjoining flood plain- This dark 
belt does not appa r  on ERTS images that predate the flcod. Presumably the low infrared 
reflectance of this belt is caused by still-moist soiL Inundation limits mapped from the 
ERTS imagery agree weU with those obtained by aerial photography during tile flood and by 
ground surveys. Arras of severe sand and gravel deposition and of local strong erosion show 
on band 5. By comparing before-anbafter-flood images on this 'band, a quick assessment can 
be made of the severely flood-ravaged land 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19730008742 2020-03-17T08:01:24+00:00Z


Assessment of Flood Damage in Arizona by Means of ERTS-1 Imagery

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