Devastating flash floods in Valencia, Spain on October 29th, 2024 captured by LandSat 8 Satellite (credit: USGS/ESA)
Devastating flash floods in Valencia, Spain on October 29th, 2024 captured by LandSat 8 Satellite (credit: USGS/ESA)
Spain suffered its worst flood in decades after torrential rains struck the eastern province of Valencia on October 29th, 2024. The death toll was climbing per hour while people remain missing. In response, ESA’s Copernicus Emergency Rapid Mapping Service was activated to provide satellite imagery supporting rescue and recovery efforts.
According to Spain’s national weather agency, Aemet, Valencia and surrounding areas received a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours. This deluge caused devastating flash floods, turning streets into rivers, destroying homes, and sweeping away vehicles.
These images from the Landsat-8 Earth Observation Satellite, operated by NASA/USGS, illustrate the scale of the disaster, with images from 8 October 8th, and October 30th, 2024 showing the dramatic transformation of the landscape.
The Landsat era that began in 1972 will continue into the future, since the launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM, renamed Landsat-8 in 2013). Landsat-8 satellite was orbited on November 2nd, 2013 on an Atlas V rocket, operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA).
The satellite provides 16-bit high-quality land-surface data, with instruments advancing future measurement capabilities while ensuring compatibility with historical Landsat data. The Operational Land Imager sensor collects data in the visible, near infrared, and shortwave infrared wavelength regions as well as a panchromatic band. Two new spectral bands have been added: a deep-blue band for coastal water and aerosol studies (band 1), and a band for cirrus cloud detection (band 9). A Quality Assurance band is also included to indicate the presence of terrain shadowing, data artifacts, and clouds. The Thermal Infrared Sensor collects data in two long wavelength thermal infrared bands and has a 3-year design life.