MAAP #56: Major Flooding in Northern Peru From Coastal El Niño

April 3, 2017

 

Intense rainfall is causing severe and deadly flooding along the northern coast of Peru.

The cause is likely “coastal El Niño,” a phenomenon produced by abnormal ocean warming along the equatorial coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Image 56a. Datos: NASA, ESA, JRC/Google
Image 56a. Datos: NASA, ESA, JRC/Google

Image 56a shows a preliminary estimate of the flooded areas along the northern coast (in red). We created this estimation via an analysis of radar images (Sentinel-1) that identified areas saturated with water.

Below, we show satellite images of the areas indicated by Insets A-D, which represent examples of flooding events.

Note that the red points indicate the same spots between panels.