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landslides-risk-usgs·dataset

Hurricane Helene Landslide Hazard Map

USGS Landslide Hazard Estimate Model - Hurricane Helene
atmosphere NASA VEDA COG
In plain English

What it measures. Maps where landslides and debris flows were most likely during Hurricane Helene, based on how much rain fell in early October 2024.

How it's made. Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey using rapid landslide-hazard computer models driven by early rainfall estimates.

How & where you'd use it. Gave emergency teams early awareness of the most dangerous areas and helped plan ground reconnaissance.

What's measured

landslidesriskusgs

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2024-09-29 → 2024-09-29
  • Spatial extent-88.944, 27.091, -69.612, 42.53
  • FormatsCOG

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

The two modeling approaches used were adapted from existing models and were run in early October 2024 using initial precipitation estimates to produce rapid event-specific landslide hazard estimate maps. These preliminary maps were initially released provisionally to meet the need for timely best science during the emergency response (version 1.0). The outputs were used to provide early situational awareness of what areas may have been more severely impacted by landslides and debris flows. These results were also used in planning reconnaissance.

Get the data

veda_access.py
# NASA VEDA — open STAC API, anonymous (cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs)
from pystac_client import Client

cat = Client.open("https://openveda.cloud/api/stac")
col = cat.get_collection("landslides-risk-usgs")
items = list(col.get_items())          # browse the analysis-ready COGs
# open an asset with rioxarray:
# import rioxarray; da = rioxarray.open_rasterio(items[0].assets["cog_default"].href)
NASA VEDA is an open STAC catalog — browse and stream the cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs anonymously (no login).