scholarly journals On the Use of Measurements from a Commercial Microwave Link for Evaluation of Flash Floods in Arid Regions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Eshel ◽  
Hagit Messer ◽  
Jonatan Ostrometzky ◽  
Roi Raich ◽  
Pinhas Alpert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Dense Networks ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Microwave Link ◽  
Rate Relation

Abstract. Flash flood warning in deserts is a challenging task, and local rain bursts are of high significance. In the last decade, commercial microwave telecommunication links have been shown to be a valuable tool for near ground rainfall estimations. Dense networks are used for highly accurate rainfall estimates, while isolated links, typical in rural areas, can detect the existence of near-ground rainfall. However, the induced attenuation of the signal integrates the rainfall along a line, therefore high local rain intensities are smoothed. In this paper, we propose a novel method that uses the integration of measurements from an isolated long microwave link with measurements from weather radar to identify potential conditions for flash floods. In particular, we suggest using radar measurements to indicate the rain variability (spottiness) along a 16 km long link, crossing Wadi Ze'elim catchment (245 km2), using kurtosis as a spottiness index. Quantitative ground level rainfall measurements are then provided by the link. When compared with analyzed discharge, inverse kurtosis-rain rate relation is associated with flash flood responses in Wadi Ze'elim, an ephemeral Wadi located in the Dead Sea.

scholarly journals A Flash Flood Early Warning System for Rural Kenya: A Pilot Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.38) ◽  
pp. 1310
Author(s):  
Prof. Dr. Ir Vinesh Thiruchelvam ◽  
Mbau Stella Nyambura
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Moderation Effect ◽  
Early Warnings

The cost of climate change has increased phenomenally in recent years. Therefore, understanding climate change and its impacts, that are likely to get worse and worse into the future, gives us the ability to predict scenarios and plan for them. Flash floods, which are a common result of climate change, follow increased precipitation which then increases risk and associated vulnerability due to the unpredictable rainfall patterns. Developing countries suffer grave consequences in the event that weather disasters strike because they have the least adaptive capacity. At the equator where the hot days are hotter and winds carrying rainfall move faster, Kenya’s Tana River County is noted for its vulnerability towards flash floods. Additionally, this county and others that are classified as rural areas in Kenya do not receive short term early warnings for floods. This county was therefore selected as the study area for its vulnerability. The aim of the study is therefore to propose a flash flood early warning system framework that delivers short term early warnings. Using questionnaires, information about the existing warning system will be collected and analyzed using SPSS. The results will be used to interpret the relationships between variables of the study, with a particular interest in the moderation effect in order to confirm that the existing system can be modified; that is, if the moderation effect is confirmed.       

scholarly journals A Flash Flood Early Warning System for Rural Kenya: A Pilot Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.38) ◽  
pp. 810
Author(s):  
Prof. Dr. Ir Vinesh Thiruchelvam ◽  
Mbau Stella Nyambura
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Moderation Effect ◽  
Early Warnings

The cost of climate change has increased phenomenally in recent years. Therefore, understanding climate change and its impacts, that are likely to get worse and worse into the future, gives us the ability to predict scenarios and plan for them. Flash floods, which are a common result of climate change, follow increased precipitation which then increases risk and associated vulnerability due to the unpredictable rainfall patterns. Developing countries suffer grave consequences in the event that weather disasters strike because they have the least adaptive capacity. At the equator where the hot days are hotter and winds carrying rainfall move faster, Kenya’s Tana River County is noted for its vulnerability towards flash floods. Additionally, this county and others that are classified as rural areas in Kenya do not receive short term early warnings for floods. This county was therefore selected as the study area for its vulnerability. The aim of the study is therefore to propose a flash flood early warning system framework that delivers short term early warnings. Using questionnaires, information about the existing warning system will be collected and analyzed using SPSS. The results will be used to interpret the relationships between variables of the study, with a particular interest in the moderation effect in order to confirm that the existing system can be modified; that is, if the moderation effect is confirmed.   

scholarly journals Warning! The use of meteorological information during a flash-flood warning process

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Créton-Cazanave
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Services ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Classical Approach ◽  
The Real ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Integrated Studies

Abstract. Warning is a key issue to reduce flash floods impacts. But, despite many studies, local and national authorities still struggle to issue good flash floods warnings. We will argue that this failure results from a classical approach of warnings, based on a strict separation between the assessment world and the action world. We will go further than the previous criticisms (Pielke and Carbone, 2002) and show that forecasters, decision makers, emergency services and local population have quite similar practices during a flash-flood warning. Focusing on the use of meteorological information in the warning process, our case study shows that more research about the real practices of stakeholders would be another step towards integrated studies.

The Use of an Automated Nowcasting System to Forecast Flash Floods in an Urban Watershed

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hatim O. Sharif ◽  
David Yates ◽  
Rita Roberts ◽  
Cynthia Mueller
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Hydrologic Modeling ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Peak Discharge ◽  
Urban Settings ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Distributed Hydrologic Modeling ◽  
Physically Based

Abstract Flash flooding represents a significant hazard to human safety and a threat to property. Simulation and prediction of floods in complex urban settings requires high-resolution precipitation estimates and distributed hydrologic modeling. The need for reliable flash flood forecasting has increased in recent years, especially in urban communities, because of the high costs associated with flood occurrences. Several storm nowcast systems use radar to provide quantitative precipitation forecasts that can potentially afford great benefits to flood warning and short-term forecasting in urban settings. In this paper, the potential benefits of high-resolution weather radar data, physically based distributed hydrologic modeling, and quantitative precipitation nowcasting for urban hydrology and flash flood prediction were demonstrated by forcing a physically based distributed hydrologic model with precipitation forecasts made by a convective storm nowcast system to predict flash floods in a small, highly urbanized catchment in Denver, Colorado. Two rainfall events on 5 and 8 July 2001 in the Harvard Gulch watershed are presented that correspond to times during which the storm nowcast system was operated. Results clearly indicate that high-resolution radar-rainfall estimates and advanced nowcasting can potentially lead to improvements in flood warning and forecasting in urban watersheds, even for short-lived events on small catchments. At lead times of 70 min before the occurrence of peak discharge, forecast accuracies of approximately 17% in peak discharge and 10 min in peak timing were achieved for a 10 km2 highly urbanized catchment.

scholarly journals Hydrogeomorphological analysis and modelling for a comprehensive understanding of flash-flood damaging processes: The 9th October 2018 event in North-eastern Mallorca

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Estrany ◽  
Maurici Ruiz-Pérez ◽  
Raphael Mutzner ◽  
Josep Fortesa ◽  
Beatriz Nácher-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Hydrological Modelling ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Karstic Features

Abstract. A flash-flood event hit in the 9th October 2018 the northeastern part of Mallorca Island, causing 13 casualties. This island is prone to catastrophic flash floods acting on a scenario that illustrates the deep landscape transformation of Mediterranean tourist resorts. As global change may exacerbate devastating flash floods, comprehensive analyses of catastrophic events are crucial to support effective prevention and mitigation measures. Field-based, remote-sense and modelling techniques were used in this study to evaluate rainfall-runoff processes at catchment scale linked to hydrological modelling. Continuous streamflow monitoring data revealed a peak discharge 442 m3 s−1 with an unprecedented runoff response (lag time, 15’). This very flashy behaviour triggered the natural disaster as a combination of heavy rainfall (246 mm in 10 h), karstic features and land cover disturbances in the Begura de Saumà River catchment (i.e., 23 km2). Topography-based connectivity index and geomorphic change detection were used as a rapid post-catastrophe decision-making tool, playing a key role during the rescue searching tasks. These hydrogeomorphological precision techniques were also applied in combination with Copernicus EMS and ground-based damage assessment illustrating with high accuracy the damage driving factors in the village of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar. The main challenges in the future are to readapt hydrological modelling to global change scenarios, implement an early flash flood warning system and apply adaptive and resilient measures at catchment scale.

scholarly journals Primarily Results of a Real-Time Flash Flood Warning System in Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 747-762
Author(s):  
Tran Kim Chau ◽  
Nguyen Tien Thanh ◽  
Nguyen The Toan
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Empirical Equation ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Bankfull Discharge ◽  
Flood Warning System ◽  
Flood Warning Systems

In recent years, losses and damages from flash floods have been steadily increasing worldwide as well as in Vietnam, due to physical factors, human activities, especially under a changing climate. This is a hotspot issue which requires immediate response from scientists and policy-makers to monitor and mitigate the negative impacts of flash floods. This study presents a way to reduce losses through increasing the accuracy of real-time flash flood warning systems in Vietnam, a case study developed for Ha Giang province where the topography is relatively complex with severe flash floods observed. The objective of this paper is to generate the real-time flash flood system based on bankfull discharge threshold. To do this, HEC-HMS model is applied to calibrate and validate observer inflow to the reservoir with nine automatic rain gauges installed. More importantly, on the basic of measured discharge at 35 locations from the fieldtrips, an empirical equation constructed is to identify the bankful discharge values. It bases on the relationship between basin characteristics of river length, basin area and bankfull discharge. The results indicate an effective approach to determine bankfull threshold with the established-empirical equation. On the scale of a small basin, it depicts the consistency of flood status and warning time with the reality. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091687 Full Text: PDF

DEVELOPMENT OF WATERSHED MODELS FOR THE TRIBUTARIES OF CUMMINS FALLS TO AID IN FLASH FLOOD WARNING SYSTEM

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. Fleishour ◽  
◽  
Lonie C. Young ◽  
Evan A. Hart
Keyword(s):  
Flash Flood ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Watershed Models ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Flood Warning System

scholarly journals A Survey of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Applications for Flash Floods

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1818
Author(s):  
Lisha Ding ◽  
Lei Ma ◽  
Longguo Li ◽  
Chao Liu ◽  
Naiwen Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Information System ◽  
Geographic Information System ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Flash Floods ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Flood Disaster ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Time Zone ◽  
Gis Technologies

Flash floods are among the most dangerous natural disasters. As climate change and urbanization advance, an increasing number of people are at risk of flash floods. The application of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies in the study of flash floods has increased significantly over the last 20 years. In this paper, more than 200 articles published in the last 20 years are summarized and analyzed. First, a visualization analysis of the literature is performed, including a keyword co-occurrence analysis, time zone chart analysis, keyword burst analysis, and literature co-citation analysis. Then, the application of remote sensing and GIS technologies to flash flood disasters is analyzed in terms of aspects such as flash flood forecasting, flash flood disaster impact assessments, flash flood susceptibility analyses, flash flood risk assessments, and the identification of flash flood disaster risk areas. Finally, the current research status is summarized, and the orientation of future research is also discussed.

scholarly journals Rainfall Threshold for Flash Flood Warning Based on Model Output of Soil Moisture: Case Study Wernersbach, Germany

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1061
Author(s):  
Thanh Thi Luong ◽  
Judith Pöschmann ◽  
Rico Kronenberg ◽  
Christian Bernhofer
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Rainfall Threshold ◽  
Probability Of Detection ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Critical Success ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Critical Discharge ◽  
Critical Success Index

Convective rainfall can cause dangerous flash floods within less than six hours. Thus, simple approaches are required for issuing quick warnings. The flash flood guidance (FFG) approach pre-calculates rainfall levels (thresholds) potentially causing critical water levels for a specific catchment. Afterwards, only rainfall and soil moisture information are required to issue warnings. This study applied the principle of FFG to the Wernersbach Catchment (Germany) with excellent data coverage using the BROOK90 water budget model. The rainfall thresholds were determined for durations of 1 to 24 h, by running BROOK90 in “inverse” mode, identifying rainfall values for each duration that led to exceedance of critical discharge (fixed value). After calibrating the model based on its runoff, we ran it in hourly mode with four precipitation types and various levels of initial soil moisture for the period 1996–2010. The rainfall threshold curves showed a very high probability of detection (POD) of 91% for the 40 extracted flash flood events in the study period, however, the false alarm rate (FAR) of 56% and the critical success index (CSI) of 42% should be improved in further studies. The proposed adjusted FFG approach has the potential to provide reliable support in flash flood forecasting.

scholarly journals A simple low-cost video-based surveillance system for a flash flood warning system

2019 ◽  
Vol 567 ◽  
pp. 012043
Author(s):  
H I R Mosey ◽  
D P Pandara ◽  
M D Bobanto ◽  
H S Sangian
Keyword(s):  
Surveillance System ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Flood Warning ◽  
Flood Warning System
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