The RAF has provided high-tech surveillance equipment to capture detailed aerial pictures of the flood-hit areas of the UK.

The service deployed a Tornado GR4 fast jet and a Sentinel R1 aircraft to produce images that will aid the planning and co-ordination of multi-agency efforts to provide relief to local residents and communities.

The Sentinel mission followed the Tornado sortie that took place last Thursday, which saw the Tornado’s reconnaissance pod produce optical imagery that will complement the Sentinel’s radar pictures. Reconnaissance pods fitted to Tornado aircraft have been used in many military operations and are currently in use over Afghanistan. They can rapidly scan a huge area in just one sortie – in this case areas in need of flood relief work.

The Sentinel system delivers all-weather tactical surveillance information using powerful processing techniques to produce photo-like imagery of the ground from radar returns.

These images will be converted into large-scale mapping to assist with strategic planning and early identification of those areas at the highest risk.

By using the imagery gathered by the Sentinel, civilian authorities will be able to compare the current flooding in the Thames Valley to how the same area was affected during a similar devastating period of flooding in 1947.