Understanding Levee Failures from Historical and Satellite Observations

Flood defense systems are critical in protecting against catastrophic events which often lead to significant damage, fatalities or substantial socio-economic and environmental impact. Even though levees form a significant part of the existing flood defense systems, there is a limited knowledge of the different levee behavior processes and the critical factors contributing to their failures. This research demonstrates the importance of collecting and analyzing historical failure events to gain new insights into levee failure mechanisms, and shows how satellite technology can both provide useful information on the deformation behavior of levees and be applicable for early warning systems.