I am sure technology is accurate to a point. But I do not see the logic of desiring to know "How much" water from a flood so you can prepare to deal with the damages. It would be better to work with nature. Large construction projects can be avoided but increasing the inline storage of flood waters. If for Example you have a designated flood level and the amount over this causes flooding. That amount can be measured. 10 year, 50 year, 100 year flood records. The decide how to expand the tributaries, rivers, lakes capacity to handle more flood waters to reduce and ultimately eliminate flooding.  Dredging, deeper channels, eliminate small islands/sandbars in the middle of a river. The easiest and least expensive is to create new flood relief tributaries that lead into a (your decided size) lake/ reservoir One or equal sizes at equidistance as needed. best part is if flooding level increase. Simple to add one more to your inline system.  (when the work gets too hard you do not get a bigger OX. You get more OXEN).

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I am sure technology is accurate to a point. But I do not see the logic of desiring to know "How much" water from a flood so you can prepare to deal with the damages. It would be better to work with nature. Large construction projects can be avoided but increasing the inline storage of flood waters. If for Example you have a designated flood level and the amount over this causes flooding. That amount can be measured. 10 year, 50 year, 100 year flood records. The decide how to expand the tributaries, rivers, lakes capacity to handle more flood waters to reduce and ultimately eliminate flooding.  Dredging, deeper channels, eliminate small islands/sandbars in the middle of a river. The easiest and least expensive is to create new flood relief tributaries that lead into a (your decided size) lake/ reservoir One or equal sizes at equidistance as needed. best part is if flooding level increase. Simple to add one more to your inline system.  (when the work gets too hard you do not get a bigger OX. You get more OXEN).    

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Dear Suraj, greetings. Respectfully, I think you missed the point of the application of remote sensing and GIS technology to assessment of the estimated extent of floods of different magnitudes. It is a great "first cut" analysis that then can facilitate the planning of infrastructure to contain floods. There is no conflict between both steps in the engineering approach. Traditionally hydraulic engineers would do this first cut with topographic maps where traditional hydraulic equations would be applied to obtain a first cut estimate of the area that would be flooded by a rain of certain frequency and magnitude. This was a trial and error procedure since most topo maps have significant elevation errors. We now have the marvel of the computers and different hydraulic models that can be linked to a GIS system to do the same analysis a lot more accurate, much quicker and at a much lower cost. Still, the final design of water works to control, manage and contain floods must be based on field surveying and planning as you discussed.  GIS is only one more tool in our toolbox for the management and wise development of basins.

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