Flood: Just Doing My Job

Summary of Article This article describes how satellite images were used to help evacuation procedures in the Midwestern flood of 1993. Torrential rains caused the waters of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers and their tributaries to overflow their banks, causing massive flooding in the towns and cities on these rivers. The article focuses on the work of one man, Lee Blackmore. Lee was an image analyst and GIS specialist with the St. Louis Community Development Agency (CDA). He used satellite images to help officials in evacuation procedures in the business district affected by the flooding River Des Peres. This article focuses on his efforts. Back to top Suggested Age/Grade Levels Age Level: 11 - 16 Grade Level: 6th grade - 10th grade Related Topics: Geography Discuss with students the communities along the Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers. History St. Louis, at one time, was a very large city. It was the gateway to the West and played a large part in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Discuss this expedition and the significance of this large city on the banks of the Mississippi with your class. Back to top Objectives After studying the article, students should be able to: Discuss how satellite imagery was used to evacuate parts of South St. Louis. Back to top Classroom Activities Please check out our Eyes in the Sky article. This is designed as a classroom activity and includes the same photos of the 1993 St. Louis flooding as Flood: Just Doing My Job. Students will be able to analyze and interpret photos of the flood and of fires at Yellowstone National Park. Back to top Questions for Discussion Q: How did Lee use the satellite images to help in the evacuation procedures? A: Lee used the satellite images to produce a map that would show which buildings were in immediate danger of flooding. First, he took data depicting streets and properties, or plats. Next, he added the locations of buildings. Finally, the current boundaries of the floodwaters were extracted from the Thematic Mapper (TM) data and added to the map. Q: Can you think of other circumstances where satellite images could be used to help save lives and property? A: A forest fire is one circumstance in which satellite images could be used to help save lives and property. Back to top Quiz Click here for a Flood quiz. *Please use your browser's back button to return to the Flood teacher's guide. Back to top Just the Facts Using satellite imagery, an electronically superimposed digital map was created showing parcels, building locations, and the normal boundaries of the River Des Peres. The resulting map clearly showed the St. Louis police where to concentrate their evacuation efforts. Back to top Links to Relevant Web Sites and Additional Resources http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/flood/flood_5.html *Page will open in a new window. Back to top Vocabulary Thematic Mapper (TM): instruments carried on Landsat and other satellites which measure the amount of energy reflected and emitted in several discrete portions, or bands, of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. Various visible and infrared bands were chosen to measure reflected and emitted energy in areas of the spectrum that correspond to known responses of the target materials (for example, specific characteristics of land, vegetation, water, rocks, and temperature). For more complete information on the TM, please check out the Observatorium's article on Landsat's Thematic Mapping Bands. *Article will open in a new window. Back to top For Fun Just for fun, play our Flood Wordsearch game. *Please use your browser's back button to return to the Flood teacher's guide. Back to top Back to Index of Articles