A map created by Mark Carroll, Rob Sohlberg, and Charlene Dimiceli depicting the effects of Cyclone Nargis and the extent of the flooding out of the Irawaddy  river and coastal areas in May of 2008 received praise from the Central Intelligence Agency on July 24th, 2008.  In a letter addressed to both scientists, the CIA thanked them “…for your support to our understanding of the effects of Cyclone Nargis which hit the Irwaddy River delta area of Burma on 2 May 2008, causing extensive damage and severely affecting 1.6 to 2.5 million people. Your method of detecting floodwater by meaning multiple sources of information—including MODIS data from NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites—provided analytic insight into a complex problem…I would also like to highlight the exemplary efforts of Mr. Carroll who delivered products that went beyond the scope of our initial request and provided detailed guidance…His expertise was unparalleled and he added substantial value to our analytic understanding. Thank you for your timely and expert support regarding this critical issue. Our success would not have been possible without your efforts.”

This product was made possible, in part, by funding from NASA 
  (NASA.NNX08AH05A  PI John Townshend) and through the use of NASA MODIS 
  satellite data products.