Empowering Risk Assessment

Flood & Inundation

• FHI (Flood Hazard Index) — composite layer highlighting likely pooling/inundation zones for early screening.
  Products: FHI built from DEM hydrology.
• HAND (Height Above Nearest Drainage) — relative height above the drainage network; strong proxy for flood susceptibility/wetness.
  Products: HAND derived from DEMSA2/SUDEM.
• Model-ready DSM & DTMs — high-res terrain for 1D/2D flood modelling and cross-sections.
  Products: DEMSA2 L3; DEMSA2 L2; DEMSA2 L1 (2 m), SUDEM5 (5 m).

Landslide & Erosion

• Slope (Gradient %) — steepness for instability and flow concentration; core landslide/erosion driver.
  Products: Slope (DEM derivative).
• Soil Erodibility (K-factor) — inherent susceptibility to sheet/rill erosion (USLE/RUSLE standard).
  Products: K-Factor
• Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) — terrain-driven wetness potential; flags soft/wet ground.
  Products: TWI (from DEMSA2/SUDEM).
• Curvature / Roughness — terrain shape/texture; channel initiation & run-out clues.
  Products: SAGA terrain derivatives

Hydrologic Pathways

• Flow Direction & Flow Accumulation — downslope paths and upslope area; identify channels, culvert inlets and detention sites.
  Products: Hydrology suite (DEM derivatives).
• Catchments / Sub-catchments — drainage areas for risk roll-ups and portfolio exposure.
  Products: Catchment delineations
• Stream Order Network — hierarchical channel network for connectivity and hydraulic seeding.
  Products: Stream Order Network

Exposure & Proximity

• Distance to Rivers (Perennial/Non-Perennial) · Waterbodies (Natural/Artificial) · Wetlands · Oceans · Nearest Drainage — riparian/coastal buffers and sensitivity screens for property/asset risk.
  Products: Distance to hydrological features
• Elevation Bands / Coastal Lowlands — identify low-lying assets with coastal/storm-surge sensitivity.
  Products: DEM bands from DEMSA2/SUDEM/SRTM

Baseline & Sensitivity

• SANLC 2018 Land Cover — baseline land cover for change/context checks.
  Products: SANLC 2018 Land Cover
• Vegetation & Biomes (SANBI) — ecosystem sensitivity and conservation status.
  Products: National Vegetation & Biome Map
• Protected/Conservation Areas (SAPAD/PACA) — no-go/low-impact zones for risk & permitting.
  Products: Protected & Conservation Areas

Benefits for insurers

• Precise risk assessment for floods/landslides using high-resolution terrain and hydrology.
• Improved underwriting & pricing with consistent geospatial inputs.
• Risk mitigation planning—site-specific buffers, drainage, BMPs.