Western Germany Ahr Valley Flooding
The Western Germany Ahr Valley flooding in July 2021 was one of the most devastating flood events in the region’s history, with rainfall exceeding the amount typically seen in an entire month in just a few hours. The flooding caused numerous landslides and flash floods, leading to over 180 deaths and extensive damage to buildings, roads, and infrastructure, highlighting the growing risk of extreme weather events due to climate change.
GEER mobilized a team led by Associate Professor Anne Lemnitzer from the University of California, Irvine, Associate Professor Nina Stark from Virginia Tech and Assistant Professor Michael Gardner from the University of Nevada, Reno. The researchers used RAPID instrumentation, including drones and the Micasense Altum Multispectral Camera, to capture high-precision terrestrial laser scans of damaged structures and multispectral imagery of flooded structures.
