<p>Understanding disaster risk is the first priority for action of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) and is the essential information needed to guide disaster governance and achieve disaster risk reduction. Flooding is a natural hazard that causes the highest number of affected people due to disasters. In Ecuador from 1970 to 2019 flooding caused the highest amount of loss and damage to housing, and from 2016 to 2019 there were 1263 flood events reported. However, the differentiated impacts in flood exposed areas and what can be done to reduce risk and its impacts are still not well understood. In this research, we explored the different dimensions of flood risk, namely hazard, exposure, and vulnerability, and investigated the drivers of risk in different ecological regions of Ecuador. The assessment was conducted at the parish level, the smallest administrative scale, for three selected provinces of Bolivar, Los R&#237;os, and Napo, representing not only the country&#8217;s three main ecological regions but also commonly affected territories due to flooding. Using an automated flood detection procedure based on Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar data, flood hazard information was derived from flood frequency and flood depth for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The drivers of exposure and vulnerability were derived from scientific literature and further evaluated and complemented during a participatory workshop with over 50 local experts from the different regions. Centered on this exercise, an indicator library was created to inform the data selection from various sources and provides the basis for deriving a spatially explicit flood risk assessment using an indicator-based approach. Impact data are available to validate the risk assessment at the parish level and with this reveal key drivers of flood risk in different ecological regions of Ecuador. This information will provide the basis to derive targeted measures for disaster risk reduction.</p>
<p>The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) provides a concrete agenda for evidence-based policy for disaster risk reduction as a key component of the post-2015 global development agenda. However, the progress of implementing the seven Global Targets of the SFDRR at the national level via the monitor of a set of thirty-eight indicators is obstructed due to a lack of available, accessible, and validated data on disaster-related loss and damage, especially in developing countries. This weakens the accuracy, timeliness, and quality of the Sendai monitoring process. In the case of floods, which account for the highest number of people affected by hazards,[WY1]&#160; there is a strong need for innovative and &#160;appropriate tools for monitoring and reporting flood impacts.</p><p>The country of Ecuador and their validated national flood loss and damage database, which stretches back to 1970, is a stark counterpoint to the norm and serves as the case study for this research. In this research we develop a geospatial model approach, which combines earth observation-based information products with additional geospatial data to result quantitative measures for selected indicators of the SFDRR and validate them based on an existing database on flood loss and damage in Ecuador. Specifically, we build on automated &#160;derivation of flood event characteristics from a full year of Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar data to assess flood hazard in Ecuador, and complement this with geospatial data on flood-related exposure and vulnerability to model selected indicators of the SFDRR in a spatially explicit way. The validation process of this geospatial model is conducted in reference to in situ loss and damage data related to flooding for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The derivation of information products is conducted in close collaboration with the National Service for Risk and Emergency Management of the Government of Ecuador, the country office of the United Nations Development Program, and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. It is thereby assured that the development and validation of this methodology is in line with the national and international approach of implementing the SFDRR.</p><p>&#160;</p>
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