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ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2026, V. 23, No. 5, pp. 442-448

Sentinel-2 data in the task of mountain mud flood detection: A case study of Trans-Ili Alatau mountains

A.G. Terekhov 1 , G.N. Sagatdinova 2 , R.I. Mukhamediev 3 , K.M. Bolatov 2 
1 Institute of Information and Computational Technologies, Almaty, Kazakhstan
2 Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
3 K.I. Satbayev Kazakh National Research University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Accepted: 07.10.2026
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2026-23-5-442-448
Mudflow activity of rainfall genesis in high altitude territory in Trans-Ili Alatau mountains remains a poorly studied phenomenon due to a very rare network of ground-based observations. This research considers the informative value of Sentinel-2 satellite data (10 m resolution) in the task of mountain mud floods detection. A powerful cyclone that passed through the Trans-Ili Alatau on July 1–4, 2026, was accompanied by heavy rainfall that led to the formation of mountain mud floods. As a result, some districts of Almaty (2.4 million inhabitants) were flooded. The study carried out a satellite analysis of the mudflow flood traces that took place in the river valleys of the northern slope of the Trans-Ili Alatau. Mudflow destroys vegetation cover in riverine zone. This phenomenon leaves traces that can serve as markers for recognizing mountain mud floods in satellite images. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) difference, before and after heavy rainfall, was used as initial data. For nine mountain rivers on the northern slope of Trans-Ili Alatau, Sentinel-2 data for July 23, 2025, and July 18, 2026, were used to analyze the state of river channel in a 150-m-wide zone. The data obtained served as the basis for a comparative analysis of the degree of vegetation changes in the channel zones. The most active mudflows were recorded in the high-altitude zone of four rivers: Uzyn Kargaly, Kaskelen, Aksai, and Turgen. In fact, as a result of the floods that took place on mountain rivers, bridges in the Kaskelen, Aksai and Turgen gorges were damaged, which coincides with satellite estimates. Thus, Sentinel-2 satellite data may be important for spatial analysis of mountain mud flood activity. This is especially in demand for the high-altitude areas of the Trans-Ili Alatau range where alternative sources of information are limited or absent.
Keywords: Trans-Ili Alatau, mudflow forming precipitation, mountain mud flood, debris flow, remote sensing, NDVI, mapping of madflow phenomena
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