Computing, a powerful tool for improving the parameters simulation quality in flood prediction

Floods have caused widespread damage throughout the world. Modelling and simulation provide solutions and tools which enable us to forecast and make necessary steps toward prevention. One problem that must be handled by physical systems simulators is the parameters uncertainty and their impact on output results, causing prediction errors. In this paper, we address input parameter uncertainty toward providing a methodology to tune a flood simulator and achieve lower error between simulated and observed results. The tuning methodology, through a parametric simulation technique, implements a first stage to find an adjusted set of critical parameters which will be used to validate the predictive capability of the simulator in order to reduce the disagreement between observed data and simulated results. We concentrate our experiments in three significant monitoring stations, located at the lower basin of the Paraná River in Argentina, and the percentage of improvement over the original simulator values ranges from 33 to 60%.Facultad de Informátic

Dynamic pluvial flash flooding hazard forecast using weather radar data

Pluvial flash floods are among the most dangerous weather-triggered disasters, usually affecting watersheds smaller than 100 km(2), with a short time to peak discharge (from a few minutes to a few hours) after causative rainfall. Several warning systems in the world try to use this time lag to predict the location, extent, intensity, and time of flash flooding. They are based on numerical hydrological models processing data collected by on-ground monitoring networks, weather radars, and precipitation nowcasting. However, there may be areas covered by weather radar data, in which the network of ground-based precipitation stations is not sufficiently developed or does not even exist (e.g., in an area covered by portable weather radar). We developed a method usable for designing an early warning system based on a different philosophy for such a situation. This method uses weather radar data as a 2D signal carrying information on the current precipitation distribution over the monitored area, and data on the watershed and drainage network in the area. The method transforms (concentrates) the 2D signal on precipitation distribution into a 1D signal carrying information on potential runoff distribution along the drainage network. For sections of watercourses where a significant increase in potential runoff can be expected (i.e., a significant increase of the 1D signal strength is detected), a warning against imminent flash floods can be possibly issued. The whole curve of the potential runoff development is not essential for issuing the alarm, but only the significant leading edge of the 1D signal is important. The advantage of this procedure is that results are obtained quickly and independent of any on-ground monitoring system; the disadvantage is that it does not provide the exact time of the onset of a flash flooding or its extent and intensity. The generated alert only warns that there is a higher flash flooding hazard in a specific section of the watercourse in the coming hours. The forecast is presented as a dynamic map of the flash flooding hazard distribution along the segments of watercourses. Relaying this hazard to segments of watercourses permits a substantial reduction in false alarms issued to not-endangered municipalities, which lie in safe areas far away from the watercourses. The method was tested at the local level (pluvial flash floods in two small regions of the Czech Republic) and the national level for rainfall episodes covering large areas in the Czech Republic. The conclusion was that the method is applicable at both levels. The results were compared mainly with data related to the Fire and Rescue Service interventions during floods. Finally, the increase in the reliability of hazard prediction using the information on soil saturation is demonstrated. The method is applicable in any region covered by a weather radar (e.g., a portable one), even if there are undeveloped networks of rain and hydrometric gauge stations. Further improvement could be achieved by processing more extended time series and using computational intelligence methods for classifying the degree of flash flooding hazard on individual sections of the watercourse network.Web of Science1315art. no. 294

Compressed UAV sensing for flood monitoring by solving the continuous travelling salesman problem over hyperspectral maps

This is the final version. Available from SPIE via the DOI in this record.Remote Sensing of the Ocean, Sea Ice, Coastal Waters, and Large Water Regions 2018, 10 - 13 September 2018, Berlin, GermanyUnmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have shown great capability for disaster management due to their fast speed, automated deployment and low maintenance requirements. In recent years, disasters such as flooding are having increasingly damaging societal and environmental effects. To reduce their impact, real-time and reliable flood monitoring and prevention strategies are required. The limited battery life of small lightweight UAVs imposes efficient strategies to subsample the sensing field. This paper proposes a novel solution to maximise the number of inspected flooded cells while keeping the travelled distance bounded. Our proposal solves the so-called continuous Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP), where the costs of travelling from one cell to another depend not only on the distance, but also on the presence of water. To determine the optimal path between checkpoints, we employ the fast sweeping algorithm using a cost function defined from hyperspectral satellite maps identifying flooded regions. Preliminary results using MODIS flood maps show that our UAV planning strategy achieves a covered flooded surface approximately 4 times greater for the same travelled distance when compared to the conventional TSP solution. These results show new insights on the use of hyperspectral imagery acquired from UAVs to monitor water resourcesThis work was funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and National Science Foundation of China within the international project “Flood Detection and Monitoring using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” (project NNS/INT 15-16 Casaseca)

The RainBO Platform for Enhancing Urban Resilience to Floods: An Ecient Tool for Planning and Emergency Phases

Many urban areas face an increasing flood risk, which includes the risk of flash floods. Increasing extreme precipitation events will likely lead to greater human and economic losses unless reliable and efficient early warning systems (EWS) along with other adaptation actions are put in place in urban areas. The challenge is in the integration and analysis in time and space of the environmental, meteorological, and territorial data from multiple sources needed to build up EWS able to provide efficient contribution to increase the resilience of vulnerable and exposed urban communities to flooding. Efficient EWS contribute to the preparedness phase of the disaster cycle but could also be relevant in the planning of the emergency phase. The RainBO Life project addressed this matter, focusing on the improvement of knowledge, methods, and tools for the monitoring and forecast of extreme precipitation events and the assessment of the associated flood risk for small and medium watercourses in urban areas. To put this into practice, RainBO developed a webGIS platform, which contributes to the “planning” of the management of river flood events through the use of detailed data and flood risk/vulnerability maps, and the “event management” with real-time monitoring/forecast of the events through the collection of observed data from real sensors, estimated/forecasted data from hydrologic models as well as qualitative data collected through a crowdsourcing app

Recovering the Moca River: An Exploration through Sustainable Strategies for Developing Countries

Natural watercourses are being negatively affected by growing urbanization in different cities of the world. Within these circumstances the concept of river restoration has gained relevance, becoming a worldwide priority in water management. In developing countries, river restoration plans, conditioned by social and economic limitations, are mainly focused on a single approach, typically relying on short-term, low technology strategies. In the long term, these strategies tend to fail because they usually avoid integral solutions that address the interconnected factors contributing to river degradation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a framework of river restoration planning for developing countries that sustains the health of the river, the welfare of the ecosystem and the safety of the community. This framework develops three strategies with potential techniques to address the impacts of water pollution, flooding risk, and informal settlement in river ecosystems. Techniques responding to each of these strategies were described under a matrix that expresses their suitability with respect to a set of attributes or criteria selected for analysis. an explanatory case study approach in the Moca River, Dominican Republic, was used to apply the three strategies

Information techniques for irrigation systems: Selected proceedings of the Second International Network Meeting on Information Techniques for Irrigation Systems held in Lahore/Bahawalnagar, Pakistan, 5-8 December 1994

Irrigation management / Irrigation systems / Decision support tools / Decision making / Information systems / Computer techniques / Models / Water management / Malaysia / Pakistan / Sri Lanka

Participatory approach for integrated basin planning with focus on disaster risk reduction : the case of the Limpopo river

This paper defends the idea that a participatory approach is a suitable method for basin planning integrating both water and land aspects. Assertions made are based on scientific literature review and corroborated by field experience and research carried out in the Limpopo River basin, a transboundary river located in southern Africa which is affected by periodical floods. The paper explains how a basin strategic plan can be drafted and disaster risk reduction strategies derived by combining different types of activities using a bottom-up approach, despite an institutional context which operates through traditional top-down mechanisms. In particular, the "Living with Floods" experience in the lower Limpopo River, in Mozambique, is described as a concrete example of a disaster adaptation measure resulting from a participatory planning exercise. In conclusion, the adopted method and obtained results are discussed and recommendations are formulated for potential replication in similar contexts of the developing world

Ground water and surface water under stress

Presented at Ground water and surface water under stress: competition, interaction, solutions: a USCID water management conference on October 25-28, 2006 in Boise, Idaho.Includes bibliographical references.The A&B Irrigation District in south-central Idaho supplies water to irrigate over 76,000 acres. The district's 14,660-acre Unit A is supplied with water from the Snake River. Unit B is comprised of 62,140 acres of land irrigated by pumping groundwater from the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) using 177 deep wells. Pumping depths range from 200 to 350 feet. Water from Unit B wells is distributed to irrigated lands via a system of short, unlined lateral canals averaging about 3/4-mile in length with capacities of 2 to 12 cfs. During the period from 1975 to 2005, the average level of the ESPA under the A&B Irrigation District dropped 25 ft and as much as 40 ft in some locations. This has forced the district to deepen some existing wells and drill several new wells. To help mitigate the declining aquifer, the district and its farmers have implemented a variety of irrigation system and management improvements. Improvements have involved a concerted effort by the district, landowners, and local and federal resource agencies. The district has installed variable speed drives on some supply wells, installed a SCADA system to remotely monitor and control well pumps, and piped portions of the open distribution laterals. This has permitted farmers to connect farm pressure pumps directly to supply well outlets. Farmers have helped by converting many of their surface irrigation application systems to sprinklers, moving farm deliveries to central locations to reduce conveyance losses, and installing systems to reclaim irrigation spills and return flows

Ground water and surface water under stress: competition, interaction, solutions

Presented at Ground water and surface water under stress: competition, interaction, solutions: a USCID water management conference on October 25-28, 2006 in Boise, Idaho.Includes bibliographical references.Overview of the Pecos River basin -- Integrating water management in Egypt: from concept to reality -- Evaluation of the Pecos River Carlsbad Settlement Agreement using the Pecos River Decision Support System -- Collaborative solutions to complex problems: a Pecos River basin, New Mexico case study -- Development of replacement water supplies by the Lower Arkansas Water Management Association -- Integrated water management in the Bear River basin -- Looking for trouble: anticipating impacts of changing allocation of irrigation water -- AgriMet: a tool for irrigation water management -- Application of MODIS and Landsat based evapotranspiration for western states water management -- Calibrating satellite-based vegetation indices to estimate evapotranspiration and crop coefficients -- Reducing Ogallala withdrawls by changing cropping and irrigation practices in the Texas High Plains -- Evaluating cotton yield potential in the Ogallala aquifer region -- A fully automated center pivot using crop canopy temperature: preliminary results -- Deficit irrigation in alfalfa as a strategy for providing water for nonagricultural uses -- An infrastructure management system for enhanced irrigation district planning -- Gila River Indian Community Water Resources Decision Support System - a modeling system for managing a multi-source conjunctive use water supply for long-term sustainability -- Groundwater analysis tool: a component of the Water Resources Decision Support System for the Gila River Indian Community -- Effective water management through farmer participation -- Improving canal water management through participatory approach: a case study on secondary canal (Potho Minor), Sindh, Pakistan -- Groundwater management improvements to mitigate declining groundwater levels - a case study -- An on-line advisory program for optimum irrigation management -- Institutional reforms in the water sector of Pakistan -- Matching irrigation supply and demand in Egypt -- Drought risk management for irrigated potato production in Idaho -- Case study - statistical forecasting techniques for evaluating an interruptible supply contract -- Managing across groundwater and surface water: an Australian 'conjunctive licence' illustration of allocation and planning issues -- Decentralized flow monitoring in Egypt -- High rate irrigation for groundwater recharge -- Impervious synthetic lining of deteriorated concrete canals - what are the real cost and benefits to irrigation districts? -- Design and installation of a flume to monitor spring discharge at the headwaters of the Verde River -- Optimal allocation of limited water supply for a large-scale irrigated area -- Assessment of the environmental sustainability of irrigated agriculture in a large-scale scheme - a case study