Satellite Flood Water Extents Over Pakistan in August-September 2025

Pakistan flood mapping from 26 August to 7 September 2025 covers approximately 870,000 km² of cloud-free analyzed area. The analysis identifies about 39,200 km² of land affected by flood waters, including 21,000 km² of cropland, and estimates 16.5 million people potentially exposed. It was produced by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) using VIIRS satellite data.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of flood water extents over Pakistan to identify the most severely affected districts.
• Estimate agricultural impact by correlating flood extents with the identified 21,000 km² of affected cropland.
• Assess population exposure by overlaying maximum flood water extents with WorldPop population data for the 16.5 million potentially affected people.
• Validate and refine preliminary flood maps using ground feedback sent to UNOSAT as specified in the dataset description.

Strengths

• Covers a large analyzed area of approximately 870,000 km² for flood assessment.
• Provides specific quantified impacts, including 39,200 km² of flooded land and 21,000 km² of affected cropland.
• Includes a population exposure estimate of about 16.5 million people, adding a humanitarian dimension.

Limitations

• The analysis is preliminary and explicitly noted as not yet validated with field data.
• Data is limited to cloud-free areas, which may omit flood extents under cloud cover during the analysis period.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a specific 13-day window from 26 August to 7 September 2025.

Provenance

Source

United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT)

Collection Method

Satellite-detected water analysis using VIIRS sensor data.

Time Range

26 August 2025 to 7 September 2025

Freshness

Data reflects events from August-September 2025; metadata was last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Pakistan