Science Daily, via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center: On July 3, a NASA aircraft equipped with a state-of-the-art sensor provided emergency response officials with critical soil moisture data for several regions across Texas that were threatened by flooding. NASA responded to the heavy rains and flooding in Texas by redirecting a NASA research aircraft, the P-3B, to Texas after it completed an interagency project in Oklahoma.
NASA P-3B on July 3 over flood-prone areas of Texas. The imagery was delivered to the Texas Office of Emergency management for flood relief planning within less than 24 hours time from observation.…
The aircraft had been flying a sensor developed by the University of Colorado at Boulder, NOAA and U.S. Department of Agriculture that could provide detailed maps of ground surface water…
On June 13, a low-pressure weather system entered Texas from the Rocky Mountains and persisted until July 7, triggering storms across the state that flooded every major river basin. The state received more than three times the average rainfall for the period. Nearly two dozen people were killed in the flooding. At one point during the crisis, officials measured 19 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours. Eight inches of rain fell in one hour over Marble Falls, a town 70 miles west of Austin.
During the first week of July, Texas officials accepted an offer from the University of Colorado and NASA to fly the sensor over a large area. During the day-long mission, the Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer, an airborne remote-sensing system, enabled researchers to quickly create soil moisture maps identifying areas where additional rainfall could lead to flooding.
…According to Wells, NASA's P-3B and the onboard sensor contributed to officials' full awareness of the flood situation, and became an extra tool they used to make decisions. "It's important to pre-plan how to prevent casualties and injuries. So the more we know and the sooner we know it, the more casualties can be avoided," said Wells…
"Our team has worked with NASA over several years to develop airborne microwave mapping technology. We're pleased to see it used for humanitarian purposes." …
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