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Previsico collaborates with University of Leicester to enhance accuracy of flood forecasting technology

Previsico collaborates with University of Leicester to enhance accuracy of flood forecasting technology

SPRINT project will develop commercial solution by combining satellite data and flood models for real-time forecasts

Previsico has signed up to the national SPRINT business support programme to further increase the accuracy of its flood modelling techniques and commercialise its comprehensive flood management solution. With a second round of funding from SPRINT, Previsico will collaborate with the University of Leicester to offer more accurate and validated flood forecasts to its international customers, enabling them to respond to flood events in a targeted and efficient manner.

‘Hot 100’ InsurTech Previsico, the live flood forecasting specialist, is based at Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park. Its FloodMap Live solution is the first real-time, property-level surface water flood nowcasting technology in the world.

This new SPRINT project will leverage the University of Leicester’s expertise to develop a fully operational service chain combining satellite imagery with Previsico’s flood simulations to provide robust flood maps.

The University of Leicester is an established centre of expertise in Earth Observation (EO) with a long tradition of exploiting satellite imagery for a wide variety of applications such as forest change, land cover mapping and land surface temperature.

The project will be funded by a grant from the £4.8 million SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) programme that provides unprecedented access to university space expertise and facilities. SPRINT helps businesses through the commercial exploitation of space data and technologies.

This is Previsico’s second SPRINT project, following its first successful collaboration with the University of Leicester on an initial flood forecasting project to investigate the proof of concept of combining flood extent information retrieved from satellite imagery with real-time flood models based on meteorological forecasts.

Dr Avi Baruch, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Previsico said: “In the first SPRINT project, we focused on developing satellite capacity and the technology to improve the validity of our forecasts which show depth and time forecasts at the property level up to two days in advance of an event.

“Our work with the University of Leicester will enable us to generate a high confidence map of flooding to help insurers, businesses and governments better respond to flood events. By the completion of this second SPRINT project, we will be ready for the delivery of our flood management solution that we believe will become a real game-changer.”

Sarah Johnson, Earth Observation Lecturer in Practice at the University of Leicester added: “Where the first SPRINT project was a proof of concept, mapping flood extent with satellite imagery, optical and SAR datasets, during this new project, we will develop a proper processing chain to turn it into something that Previsico can use commercially."


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