Beam in Rongjiang Flood: Optical Power of Flood Fighting Frontier
In June 2025, a serious flood occurred in Rongjiang, Guizhou, causing extensive losses and inconvenience. In the process of emergency rescue and post disaster recovery, although traditional means of disaster relief are still important, high-tech intervention makes the rescue work more efficient, especially the application of optical technology, which plays a vital role. This paper will discuss how optical technology can be applied in flood disaster relief, including its specific role in disaster monitoring, search and rescue operations and post disaster recovery.
1. Role of optical technology in disaster monitoring
Disaster monitoring is an indispensable part of flood relief, and accurate understanding of the situation in the disaster area is the prerequisite for timely and effective measures. Optical technology, especially remote sensing imaging technology, has become an important tool for post disaster assessment.
Satellite Remote Sensing and UAV Image
By acquiring ground images from space, satellite remote sensing technology can provide key data such as flood spread range, disaster affected area and damage of transportation facilities at the first time after a disaster. Using high-resolution remote sensing images, the rescue department can quickly identify the worst affected areas and prioritize resources for rescue.
The rapid development of UAV technology also provides a flexible solution for disaster monitoring. The UAV is equipped with optical cameras and infrared sensors, which can fly at low altitude and take real-time images of the disaster area. These images can not only accurately identify the flooded buildings, but also help rescue workers to identify the positions of trapped people, especially in large-scale floods, when the ground vision is limited.
2. Application of optical technology in search and rescue operations
After a disaster, search and rescue work is often the top priority of rescue operations. Finding trapped people as soon as possible is the key to reducing disaster losses. Optical technology plays an important role in search and rescue, especially in severe weather conditions and complex terrain.
Night vision and infrared thermal imaging
In the flood, the sight of many disaster areas is limited, especially at night or in rainstorm weather, so it is difficult for rescue workers to identify the trapped people with naked eyes. Infrared thermal imaging technology and night vision equipment can help search and rescue personnel to cross the visual barrier and quickly locate the body temperature signal of trapped personnel. The thermal imager can detect trapped people under water or in dense fog by sensing the temperature difference between human body and environment, especially in areas that cannot be directly accessed.
Optical imaging and map navigation
In addition to thermal imaging technology, conventional optical imaging technology also plays an important role in map navigation and accurate positioning of disaster areas. With the help of high-definition cameras and computer vision technology, rescue workers can quickly establish a three-dimensional map of the disaster area through real-time images. These maps can help the command center make rapid decisions, arrange the deployment of rescue resources, and avoid the waste of personnel and materials.
3. Role of optical technology in disaster recovery
Post disaster recovery is a long-term task in flood relief, which requires us not only to focus on short-term emergency rescue, but also to effectively assess the losses after the disaster, and reasonably allocate resources to restore the normal operation of the region. In this process, optical technology also plays a key role.
Loss assessment and infrastructure testing
After the flood, many infrastructures such as roads, bridges and houses may be damaged to varying degrees. High resolution images taken by UAVs can be used to accurately assess the damage of these infrastructures. Optical imaging technology helps to assess the damage, formulate repair plans, and provide scientific basis for post disaster reconstruction.
Vegetation restoration and environmental monitoring
After the flood, the ecological environment of the affected area may be severely damaged. Through satellite remote sensing images and UAV images, the rescue department can monitor the restoration of damaged vegetation and the change of water pollution in real time. This information is crucial to post disaster ecological recovery and environmental governance. Especially for agricultural areas, optical images can help timely assess the impact of floods on crops and provide scientific recovery suggestions for farmers.
4. Advantages and challenges of optical technology
Although optical technology has shown strong advantages in flood relief, it also faces some challenges in practical applications. First, the accuracy and real-time of optical technology are highly dependent on the performance of the equipment. For example, satellite images usually need some time to acquire and process, which may be delayed for emergency rescue. The UAV is limited by flight time and battery life, so long time operation is still a challenge.
In addition, optical technology is also affected by weather and environment. For example, dense fog, heavy rain or strong sunlight may interfere with the clarity of optical imaging. Therefore, how to overcome these natural factors and improve the adaptability of optical technology in various environments is the direction of future technological progress.
5. Conclusion
The application of optical technology in flood relief has significantly improved the speed and efficiency of emergency response in disaster areas. Through satellite remote sensing, UAV image, infrared thermal imaging and other technologies, rescue personnel can obtain disaster information more quickly and accurately, carry out search and rescue operations, and support post disaster recovery. Although the application of optical technology in disaster relief has achieved remarkable results, the technology still needs to be continuously optimized in the future to cope with more complex and changeable natural disaster environments.