The INterpolated FLOod Surface (INFLOS) tool was developed to meet the operational needs of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) Rapid Mapping (RM) component, which delivers critical crisis information within hours during and after disasters. With increasing demand for accurate and real-time flood depth estimates, INFLOS provides a rapid, adaptable solution for estimating floodwater depth across diverse flood scenarios, using remotely sensed data and high-resolution Digital Terrain Models (DTMs). INFLOS calculates flood depth by interpolating water surface elevation from sample points along flooded area boundaries, derived from satellite imagery. This tool is capable of delivering flood depth estimates in a rapid mapping context, leveraging a multistep interpolation and filtering process for improved accuracy. Tested across fourteen regions in Europe and South America, INFLOS has been successfully integrated into CEMS RM operations. The tool’s computational optimisations further enhance efficiency, improving computation times by up to 15-fold, compared to similar techniques. Indeed, it is able to process areas of up to 6000 ha in a median time of 5.2 min, and up to 30 min at most. In conclusion, INFLOS is currently operational and consistently generates flood depth products quickly, supporting real-time emergency management and reinforcing the CEMS RM portfolio.

The Rapid Mapping (RM) component of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) delivers crisis information within hours or days, during and in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Users of the service have requested the incorporation of flood depth estimates for inundations and related disasters, such as storms and tsunamis. This demand required the development of a quick and operational approach for estimating floodwater depth distribution, which can effectively adapt to a wide range of flood scenarios, remotely sensed data and Digital Terrain Models (DTMs). INFLOS is a tool developed to answer these requirements, within an expedient 30-minute timeframe at most. It uses sample points collected along the edges of flooded areas derived from remotely sensed imagery, and integrates high resolution DTMs and hydrography data to enhance accuracy. Flood depth is then estimated through a multi-step interpolation and filtering process. INFLOS underwent thorough testing across fourteen regions. As it transitioned into production, INFLOS successfully generated a wealth of flood depth products accessible through the CEMS RM portal: https://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/list-of-activations-rapid. Currently, INFLOS is operational and its computation time remains consistently within the order of minutes, making it a staple of the RM tooling and portfolio.