  While the world's attention is focused on immediate relief and rescue
operations for the affectees of the current floods in Pakistan, knock-on
effects are expected to play further havoc with the country's economy and food
security in the coming months. Significant crop yield losses had already
occurred for Winter (Rabi) 2021-22 due to a heatwave earlier in the year and
estimates for the Summer (Kharif) 2022 crop damage due to flood inundation have
already been determined to be very high. With the next sowing season already
upon the flood affectees, there is a big question mark over the resumption of
agricultural activity in disaster-struck districts. This study is aimed at
analyzing the range of influences of the 2022 floods on the upcoming winter
(Rabi) crop. Satellite-based remote sensing data, state-of-the-art Earth system
models, and field observations will be leveraged to estimate the impacts of the
flood on the resumption of agricultural activity in the most impacted districts
of Southern Punjab, Sindh, and Baluchistan. The field surveys are conducted
during multiple visits to the study area to maximize the monitoring of
on-ground conditions and provide a larger validation dataset for the
satellite-based inundation and crop classification maps. The project leverages
on the expertise and previous experiences of the LUMS team in performing
satellite-based land/crop classification, estimation of soil moisture levels
for irrigation activity, and determining changes in land-use patterns for
detecting key agricultural activities. Delays in the sowing of the winter crop
and its effects on crop-yield were analyzed through this study.
