Flooding and flood waves
Radar shows water surfaces even under cloud; before and after with every pass. h‑aero: dykes, bridges and settlements kept in view for hours.
Situations
Every situation needs different data. The viewer selects the right view — optical, radar or index — and h‑aero takes over where the details decide.
Radar shows water surfaces even under cloud; before and after with every pass. h‑aero: dykes, bridges and settlements kept in view for hours.
Debris and rubble bright, smooth mud surfaces dark in radar; high ground with no road access. h‑aero: watching slope movement at close range.
SWIR reveals hotspots, NDVI the loss of vegetation. h‑aero adds thermal at close range: watching the fire site for days, quietly and without downwash.
Damage areas in false colour, compared against the previous week. h‑aero: individual stands and infrastructure beneath the trees.
Radar comparison before and after the event, accessibility of roads and bridges. h‑aero: detailed imagery for incident command and assessors.
Overview for the command staff, live imagery for the crews on the ground. h‑aero: on station above the operational area, data in near real time.
Case study
On 26 August 2026 an ice-rock avalanche from the Langtang range dammed the Lhende river near Kyirong (Tibet). The dam burst, the flood wave reached the Nepalese border post at Rasuwagadhi within minutes and ran about 100 km down the Trishuli valley. In the requested window Sentinel delivered four optical and three radar passes over the area. Monsoon cloud covered 51–88 % of the optical tiles — which is why the radar pair before and after carries the situation picture. The viewer shows both.
Daily pictures exist only through commercial tasking — Sentinel delivers every few days, but free of charge and, in radar, independent of cloud. We put both in context for you.
How the situation picture is built
Sentinel-2 optical and Sentinel-1 radar over the entire area, every few days, independent of weather in radar.
AI analysis in the browser: draw an area, before and after, objects marked with a confidence level, report or private link.
h‑aero® over a village, bridge or slope: for hours, near-silent, detail down to below a decimetre depending on flight altitude, data live to the command staff.
The situation picture decides where the platform flies.
The platform
Measured at over five hours with one kilogram of payload; the platform stays where the command staff needs it.
Below 40 decibels: no rotor noise over casualties, animals or crews, and no downwash.
Thermal, gimbal RGB, LiDAR, acoustics — the sensors the situation calls for.
LTE, 5G and satellite link; control via SatCom demonstrated. Maps and dashboards at the ground station.
As a balloon platform with a wide operating corridor; ascent permits are in place. Tethered, it holds position in kite mode in winds up to 20 km/h; in free flight it glides over the area and builds an exact situation picture.
Launch windows depend on the weather — in return the platform sustains an endurance and a quietness that rotor-driven systems do not offer in that window.
Nine instruments
All instruments are ready in the browser — no GIS software, no training.
The situation as the eye sees it; orientation for the command staff.
Vegetation red, water dark: damage areas stand out.
Vegetation index: loss and recovery measurable over weeks.
Moisture and water edges sharper than in visible light.
Hotspots, soil moisture, burnt areas.
Independent of cloud: water and mud dark, debris bright.
Sensitive to structure and roughness, complements VV.
Vegetation against bare ground and slope in a single image.
For sediment plumes, turbidity and your own analyses.
Delivery
AI search in plain language, draw an area, before and after per scene date. Delivery as a PDF report and/or a private online link; sessions are saved.
One area, one period. Optical and radar before and after, AI annotation, sources. PDF plus private online link — within hours for standby customers, otherwise typically within three working days.
Live viewer page under a private link, all scenes with date selection, notification on every new pass (about 6–8 per month). Cancel monthly.
Commercial 30–50 cm imagery for your area, passed through at cost, plus our analysis per scene. The only path to daily pictures. Availability depends on area and time window.
Terms on request. Sentinel data is free and open under the Copernicus licence.
Who it is for
A dependable situation picture for decisions, documented and traceable.
Overview for operational planning, the close-range view for the crews on the ground.
Access by link, without software of their own, internationally too.
Damage situation before and after the event, repeatable and georeferenced.
As in the Nepal example: name the area, receive the situation picture — wherever it is.
Tethered h‑aero® platforms hold position for hours and carry sensors where no fixed station can be placed — a stable carrier for seismic and tectonic ground-motion measurement, complementing satellite radar interferometry. Concept stage; talk to us.
Partnership
We show on your actual area what the situation picture delivers today.
One event, one area, one report — analysed together.
Areas configured in advance, called off within hours when an event occurs; with h‑aero at close range on request.
h‑aero is deployed in EU research projects, holds ascent permits, and has documented approvals and operations in the EU, in Singapore and in Saudi Arabia.