scholarly journals Flood hazard in the Mekong Delta – a probabilistic, bivariate, and non-stationary analysis with a short-termed future perspective

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. V. Dung ◽  
B. Merz ◽  
A. Bárdossy ◽  
H. Apel

Abstract. In this paper we present a novel approach for flood hazard analysis of the whole Mekong Delta with a particular focus on the Vietnamese part. Based on previous studies identifying the flood regime in the Mekong delta as non-stationary (Delgado et al., 2010), we develop a non-stationary approach for flood hazard analysis. Moreover, the approach is also bi-variate, as the flood severity in the Mekong Delta is determined by both maximum discharge and flood volume, which determines the flood duration. Probabilities of occurrences of peak discharge and flood volume are estimated by a copula. The flood discharges and volumes are used to derive synthetic hydrographs, which in turn constitute the upper boundary condition for a large-scale hydrodynamic model covering the whole Mekong Delta. The hydrodynamic model transforms the hydrographs into hazard maps. In addition, we extrapolate the observed trends in flood peak and volume and their associated non-stationary extreme value distributions to the year 2030 in order to give a flood hazard estimate for the near future. The uncertainty of extreme flood events in terms of different possible combinations of peak discharge and flood volume given by the copula is considered. Also, the uncertainty in flood hydrograph shape is combined with parameter uncertainty of the hydrodynamic model in a Monte Carlo framework yielding uncertainty estimates in terms of quantile flood maps. The proposed methodology sets the frame for the development of probabilistic flood hazard maps for the entire Mekong Delta. The combination of bi-variate, non-stationary extreme value statistics with large-scale flood inundation modeling and uncertainty quantification is novel in itself. Moreover, it is in particular novel for the Mekong Delta: a region where not even a standard hazard analysis based on a univariate, stationary extreme value statistic exists.

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 4967-5013 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Apel ◽  
O. M. Trepat ◽  
N. N. Hung ◽  
D. T. Chinh ◽  
B. Merz ◽  
...  

Abstract. Many urban areas experience both fluvial and pluvial floods, because locations next to rivers are preferred settlement areas, and the predominantly sealed urban surface prevents infiltration and facilitates surface inundation. The latter problem is enhanced in cities with insufficient or non-existent sewer systems. While there are a number of approaches to analyse either fluvial or pluvial flood hazard, studies of combined fluvial and pluvial flood hazard are hardly available. Thus this study aims at the analysis of fluvial and pluvial flood hazard individually, but also at developing a method for the analysis of combined pluvial and fluvial flood hazard. This combined fluvial-pluvial flood hazard analysis is performed taking Can Tho city, the largest city in the Vietnamese part of the Mekong Delta, as example. In this tropical environment the annual monsoon triggered floods of the Mekong River can coincide with heavy local convective precipitation events causing both fluvial and pluvial flooding at the same time. Fluvial flood hazard was estimated with a copula based bivariate extreme value statistic for the gauge Kratie at the upper boundary of the Mekong Delta and a large-scale hydrodynamic model of the Mekong Delta. This provided the boundaries for 2-dimensional hydrodynamic inundation simulation for Can Tho city. Pluvial hazard was estimated by a peak-over-threshold frequency estimation based on local rain gauge data, and a stochastic rain storm generator. Inundation was simulated by a 2-dimensional hydrodynamic model implemented on a Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) for time-efficient flood propagation modelling. All hazards – fluvial, pluvial and combined – were accompanied by an uncertainty estimation considering the natural variability of the flood events. This resulted in probabilistic flood hazard maps showing the maximum inundation depths for a selected set of probabilities of occurrence, with maps showing the expectation (median) and the uncertainty by percentile maps. The results are critically discussed and ways for their usage in flood risk management are outlined.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 941-961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiko Apel ◽  
Oriol Martínez Trepat ◽  
Nguyen Nghia Hung ◽  
Do Thi Chinh ◽  
Bruno Merz ◽  
...  

Abstract. Many urban areas experience both fluvial and pluvial floods, because locations next to rivers are preferred settlement areas and the predominantly sealed urban surface prevents infiltration and facilitates surface inundation. The latter problem is enhanced in cities with insufficient or non-existent sewer systems. While there are a number of approaches to analyse either a fluvial or pluvial flood hazard, studies of a combined fluvial and pluvial flood hazard are hardly available. Thus this study aims to analyse a fluvial and a pluvial flood hazard individually, but also to develop a method for the analysis of a combined pluvial and fluvial flood hazard. This combined fluvial–pluvial flood hazard analysis is performed taking Can Tho city, the largest city in the Vietnamese part of the Mekong Delta, as an example. In this tropical environment the annual monsoon triggered floods of the Mekong River, which can coincide with heavy local convective precipitation events, causing both fluvial and pluvial flooding at the same time. The fluvial flood hazard was estimated with a copula-based bivariate extreme value statistic for the gauge Kratie at the upper boundary of the Mekong Delta and a large-scale hydrodynamic model of the Mekong Delta. This provided the boundaries for 2-dimensional hydrodynamic inundation simulation for Can Tho city. The pluvial hazard was estimated by a peak-over-threshold frequency estimation based on local rain gauge data and a stochastic rainstorm generator. Inundation for all flood scenarios was simulated by a 2-dimensional hydrodynamic model implemented on a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) for time-efficient flood propagation modelling. The combined fluvial–pluvial flood scenarios were derived by adding rainstorms to the fluvial flood events during the highest fluvial water levels. The probabilities of occurrence of the combined events were determined assuming independence of the two flood types and taking the seasonality and probability of coincidence into account. All hazards – fluvial, pluvial and combined – were accompanied by an uncertainty estimation taking into account the natural variability of the flood events. This resulted in probabilistic flood hazard maps showing the maximum inundation depths for a selected set of probabilities of occurrence, with maps showing the expectation (median) and the uncertainty by percentile maps. The results are critically discussed and their usage in flood risk management are outlined.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 2859-2876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Van Khanh Triet ◽  
Nguyen Viet Dung ◽  
Bruno Merz ◽  
Heiko Apel

Abstract. Flooding is an imminent natural hazard threatening most river deltas, e.g. the Mekong Delta. An appropriate flood management is thus required for a sustainable development of the often densely populated regions. Recently, the traditional event-based hazard control shifted towards a risk management approach in many regions, driven by intensive research leading to new legal regulation on flood management. However, a large-scale flood risk assessment does not exist for the Mekong Delta. Particularly, flood risk to paddy rice cultivation, the most important economic activity in the delta, has not been performed yet. Therefore, the present study was developed to provide the very first insight into delta-scale flood damages and risks to rice cultivation. The flood hazard was quantified by probabilistic flood hazard maps of the whole delta using a bivariate extreme value statistics, synthetic flood hydrographs, and a large-scale hydraulic model. The flood risk to paddy rice was then quantified considering cropping calendars, rice phenology, and harvest times based on a time series of enhanced vegetation index (EVI) derived from MODIS satellite data, and a published rice flood damage function. The proposed concept provided flood risk maps to paddy rice for the Mekong Delta in terms of expected annual damage. The presented concept can be used as a blueprint for regions facing similar problems due to its generic approach. Furthermore, the changes in flood risk to paddy rice caused by changes in land use currently under discussion in the Mekong Delta were estimated. Two land-use scenarios either intensifying or reducing rice cropping were considered, and the changes in risk were presented in spatially explicit flood risk maps. The basic risk maps could serve as guidance for the authorities to develop spatially explicit flood management and mitigation plans for the delta. The land-use change risk maps could further be used for adaptive risk management plans and as a basis for a cost–benefit of the discussed land-use change scenarios. Additionally, the damage and risks maps may support the recently initiated agricultural insurance programme in Vietnam.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1141-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Poretti ◽  
M. De Amicis

Abstract. In the Lombardy Region, as in many other contexts all over the world, hazard maps do not have a precise legislative confirmation. Despite this, they are necessary to support several institutional activities, and among these, local urban planning. An approach to hazard analysis and mapping that fits the Lombardy Region legislative framework is presented here that introduces a level of experimental modelling, making use of SOBEK 1-D–2-D as a tool for hydrodynamic simulations. A stretch of 17 km of the Adda river in Valtellina has been modelled, referring to twelve scenarios characterised by different temporal probabilities, and comprising the main sources of uncertainty. The results were compared with available local hydraulic studies, and combined to obtain two complementary flood hazard maps which could usefully support urban planning. Advantages and drawbacks of this modelling approach, together with considerations related to flood hazard mapping are discussed.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Huţanu ◽  
Alin Mihu-Pintilie ◽  
Andrei Urzica ◽  
Larisa Elena Paveluc ◽  
Cristian Constantin Stoleriu ◽  
...  

The ability to extract flood hazard settings in highly vulnerable areas like populated floodplains by using new computer algorithms and hydraulic modeling software is an important aspect of any flood mitigation efforts. In this framework, the 1D/2D hydraulic models, which were generated based on a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) derivate Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and processed within Geographical Information Systems (GIS), can improve large-scale flood hazard maps accuracy. In this study, we developed the first flood vulnerability assessment for 1% (100-year) and 0.1% (1000-year) recurrence intervals within the Jijia floodplain (north-eastern Romania), based on 1D HEC-RAS hydraulic modeling and LiDAR derivate DEM with 0.5 m spatial resolution. The results were compared with official flood hazards maps developed for the same recurrence intervals by the hydrologists of National Administration “Romanian Waters” (NARW) based on MIKE SHE modeling software and a DEM with 2 m spatial resolutions. It was revealed that the 1D HEC-RAS provides a more realistic perspective about the possible flood threats within Jijia floodplain and improves the accuracy of the official flood hazard maps obtained according to Flood Directive 2007/60/EC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás Bódai ◽  
Torben Schmith

Abstract. With a view to seasonal forecasting of extreme value statistics, we apply the method of Nonstationary extreme value statistics to determine the predictive power of large scale quantities. Regarding winter cold extremes over Europe, we find that the monthly mean daily minimum local temperature – which we call a native co-variate in the present context – has a much larger predictive power than the nonlocal monthly mean Arctic Oscillation index. Our results also prompt that the exploitation of both co-variates is not possible from 70 years-long data sets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 2027-2049
Author(s):  
A. Curran ◽  
Karin De Bruijn ◽  
Alessio Domeneghetti ◽  
Federica Bianchi ◽  
M. Kok ◽  
...  

Abstract Reliable hazard analysis is crucial in the flood risk management of river basins. For the floodplains of large, developed rivers, flood hazard analysis often needs to account for the complex hydrology of multiple tributaries and the potential failure of dikes. Estimating this hazard using deterministic methods ignores two major aspects of large-scale risk analysis: the spatial–temporal variability of extreme events caused by tributaries, and the uncertainty of dike breach development. Innovative stochastic methods are here developed to account for these uncertainties and are applied to the Po River in Italy. The effects of using these stochastic methods are compared against deterministic equivalents, and the methods are combined to demonstrate applications for an overall stochastic hazard analysis. The results show these uncertainties can impact extreme event water levels by more than 2 m at certain channel locations, and also affect inundation and breaching patterns. The combined hazard analysis allows for probability distributions of flood hazard and dike failure to be developed, which can be used to assess future flood risk management measures.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alin Mihu-Pintilie ◽  
Cătălin Ioan Cîmpianu ◽  
Cristian Constantin Stoleriu ◽  
Martín Núñez Pérez ◽  
Larisa Elena Paveluc

The ability to extract streamflow hydraulic settings using geoinformatic techniques, especially in high populated territories like urban and peri-urban areas, is an important aspect of any disaster management plan and flood mitigation effort. 1D and 2D hydraulic models, generated based on DEMs with high accuracy (e.g., Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)) and processed in geographic information systems (GIS) modeling software (e.g., HEC-RAS), can improve urban flood hazard maps. In this study, we present a small-scale conceptual approach using HEC-RAS multi-scenario methodology based on remote sensing (RS), LiDAR data, and 2D hydraulic modeling for the urban and peri-urban area of Bacău City (Bistriţa River, NE Romania). In order to test the flood mitigation capacity of Bacău 1 reservoir (rB1) and Bacău 2 reservoir (rB2), four 2D streamflow hydraulic scenarios (s1–s4) based on average discharge and calculated discharge (s1–s4) data for rB1 spillway gate (Sw1) and for its hydro-power plant (H-pp) were computed. Compared with the large-scale flood hazard data provided by regional authorities, the 2D HEC-RAS multi-scenario provided a more realistic perspective about the possible flood threats in the study area and has shown to be a valuable asset in the improvement process of the official flood hazard maps.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document