Bringing the OpenMI to LIFE Progress Report No. 4 - 31st March 2008 – 30th September 2008

The Water Framework Directive demands an integrated approach to water management. This requires the ability to predict how catchment processes will behave and interact in response to the activities of water managers and others. In most contexts, it is not feasible to build a single predictive model that adequately represents all the processes; therefore a means of linking models of individual processes is required. This is met by the FP5 HarmonIT project’s Open Modelling Interface and Environment (the OpenMI). The purpose of this project is to transform the OpenMI from a research output to a sustainable operational Standard. It will build the capacity to use the OpenMI and will demonstrate it under operational conditions. It will also develop, test and demonstrate the future support organisation for the OpenMI. Finally, information about the OpenMI will be disseminated to users

High resolution radar rainfall for urban pluvial flood management: Lessons learnt from 10 pilots in North-West Europe within the RainGain project

ABSTRACT Precipitation and catchment information needs to be available at high resolution to reliably predict hydrological response and potential flooding in urban catchments. While recent advances have been made in weather radar technology and availability of DTM for urban flood modelling, the question is whether these are sufficient to provide reliable predictions for urban pluvial flood control. The RainGain project (EU-Interreg IVB NWE) brings together radar technologists and hydrologists to explore a variety of rainfall sensors, rainfall data processing techniques and hydrodynamic models for the purpose of fine-scale representation of urban hydrodynamic response. High resolution rainfall and hydrodynamic modelling techniques are implemented at 10 different pilot locations under real-life conditions. In this paper, the pilot locations, configurations of rainfall sensors (including X-Band and C-Band radars, rain gauges and disdrometers) and modelling approaches adopted within the RainGain project are introduced. Initial results are presented of hydrodynamic modelling using high resolution precipitation inputs from dual-polarisation X-band radar, followed by a discussion of differences in hydrodynamic response behaviour between the pilots

Bringing the OpenMI to LIFE. Progress Report No. 2 - 1st April 2007 – 30th September 2007 Progress Report No 2 1st April 2007 – 30th September 2007

This is the second progress report for the EU LIFE Bringing the OpenMI to Life project

Bringing the OpenMI to LIFE Progress Report No. 1 - 1st October 2006 – 31st March 2007

This is the first progress report for the EU LIFE project Bringing the OpenMI to Life, for which CEH are project coordinators

Calculation of Dry Weather Flows in Pumping Stations to Identify Inflow and Infiltration in Urban Drainage Systems

The performance of most urban drainage systems is adversely affected by unintended connections of groundwater and surface water, often denoted as inflow and infiltration (I&I). Various methods exist to locate and characterise these effects. Yet, it remains difficult to quantify them accurately, especially in terms of spatial distribution over a larger drainage area. One of the reasons for this is the lack of sufficient high-quality sewer flow measurements at a high temporal resolution, which would enable the calibration of detailed spatio-temporal relationships between rainfall and I&I flows. In this paper, a methodology is presented for deriving sewer flow time series from operational measurements at pumping stations, and the results from four pilot locations are discussed. It shows the potential of the methodology to be implemented at a large scale and to contribute to a better understanding and remediation of I&I in urban drainage management planning

Calculation of Dry Weather Flows in Pumping Stations to Identify Inflow and Infiltration in Urban Drainage Systems

The performance of most urban drainage systems is adversely affected by unintended connections of groundwater and surface water, often denoted as inflow and infiltration (I&amp;I). Various methods exist to locate and characterise these effects. Yet, it remains difficult to quantify them accurately, especially in terms of spatial distribution over a larger drainage area. One of the reasons for this is the lack of sufficient high-quality sewer flow measurements at a high temporal resolution, which would enable the calibration of detailed spatio-temporal relationships between rainfall and I&amp;I flows. In this paper, a methodology is presented for deriving sewer flow time series from operational measurements at pumping stations, and the results from four pilot locations are discussed. It shows the potential of the methodology to be implemented at a large scale and to contribute to a better understanding and remediation of I&amp;I in urban drainage management planning.</jats:p

Sewer flow quality modelling

Within the framework of an EC-funded SPRINT-project, a sewer flow quality model of a typical rural Flemish catchment was set up. The applicability of such a model is demonstrated. Furthermore a methodology for model building, data collection and model calibration and verification is proposed. To this end an intensive 9 month measuring campaign was undertaken. The hydraulic behaviour of the sewer network was continuously monitored during those 9 months. During both dry weather flow (DWF) and wet weather flow (WWF) a number of sewage samples were taken and analysed for BOD, COD, TKN, TP and TSS. This resulted in 286 WWF and 269 DWF samples. The model was calibrated and verified with these data. Finally a software independent methodology for interpretation of the model results is proposed.</jats:p

Het meten van de neerslag met behulp van een lokale neerslagradar: eerste resultaten

Het huidige rioleringsontwerp en –beheer maakt veelvuldig gebruik van resultaten van modelsimulaties. Omwille van een beperkte beschikbaarheid aan neerslaggegevens met een voldoend hoge ruimtelijke resolutie wordt vaak een uniforme neerslaginvoer verondersteld, ondanks het besef dat deze veronderstelling tot grote fouten kan leiden in de simulatieresultaten. Radargegevens kunnen dit tekort aan ruimtelijke gegevens opvangen, en sinds kort voert Aquafin nv, samen met de Afdeling Hydraulica van de Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, dan ook onderzoek uit over de toepasbaarheid van een lokale neerslagradar voor het meten van de neerslag. Hiervoor beschikt het over een proefopstelling in Leuven. Dit artikel beschrijft eerst het werkingsprincipe van een neerslagradar. Daaruit blijkt reeds dat het meten van neerslag met behulp van radar onderhevig is aan een aantal foutenbronnen, waarvoor niet altijd gemakkelijk kan worden gecorrigeerd. Nadien wordt de eigenlijke proefopstelling meer in detail besproken, waarna de eerste resultaten worden toegelicht. Die resultaten tonen aan dat radarbeelden zeker een waardevolle aanvulling kunnen betekenen voor het uitvoeren van modelsimulaties, ondanks de ermee gepaard gaande onzekerheden. Verder onderzoek is echter noodzakelijk.status: publishe

CSO Generator&mdash;A Parsimonious Wastewater Quality Model for Combined Sewer Overflows

Combined sewage overflows (CSOs) are a common consequence of heavy rainfall events and can have significant implications for water quality in receiving waterbodies. With climate change, these events are becoming more frequent and intense, placing greater pressure on aquatic ecosystems. To prevent water pollution, it is essential to utilize numerical tools to investigate, forecast, and establish control measures for CSOs. Typically, these tools involve a dynamic model for flow simulation combined with either a detailed model for pollutants or a simplified event mean concentration (EMC) calculation. However, both approaches have drawbacks: a detailed model requires extensive calibration time, while the EMC does not account for system dynamics. To overcome these issues, a novel system was developed that integrates the dynamic nature of the detailed model with the rapid calibration of the EMC. This model employs two distinct concepts for pollution modeling: one for soluble compounds and one for suspended solids. The resulting model was evaluated at multiple locations with varying hydraulic dynamics, demonstrating its potential utility at any location where a dynamic model of the sewer system is available