Brief communication: Western Europe flood in 2021 – mapping agriculture flood exposure from synthetic aperture radar (SAR)

Abstract

In this communication, we present the exposure of agricultural lands to the flooding caused by extreme precipitation in western Europe from 12 to 15 July 2021. Overlaying the flood inundation maps derived from the near-real-time RAdar-Produced Inundation Diary (RAPID) system on the Coordination of information on the environment (CORINE) Land Cover map we estimate a 1920 km2 area affected by the flooding, with 64 % representing agricultural land. Among the inundated agricultural land, 36 % of the area is pastures while 34 % is arable land. Most agricultural flood exposure is found in eastern France along the Rhône River, the southern Netherlands along the Meuse River, and western Germany along the Rhine River.