Elsevier

Journal of Hydrology

Volume 509, 13 February 2014, Pages 406-415
Journal of Hydrology

Calculation and visualization of flood inundation based on a topographic triangle network

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.11.060Get rights and content

Highlights

  • A new method named FCDC is proposed to simulate flood inundation.

  • The key algorithm of the method is flood connected domain searching.

  • A topographic triangle network and its logical relationships are fundamental.

  • The FCDC method was used to simulate river and dam-break flood inundation.

  • The FCDC method can realize rapid simulation in regions of complex topography.

Summary

Simulations of flood inundation have important practical significance for flood control and disaster alleviation. Accuracy and efficiency are two major indicators in evaluating the performance of flood inundation models. Although a flood inundation model based on hydrodynamics can use detailed topographic data to accurately evaluate flood inundation processes, it is difficult to build a reasonable model for complex topography and variable flood conditions. More importantly, the simulation time for these types of models is generally too long and cannot be accomplished in real time. This paper proposes a new method, named the flood-connected domain calculation (FCDC) method, to improve the efficiency of flood inundation models in regions of complex topography. The main concept of the method is that inundation can only occur in areas where the water level is higher than the terrain elevation and connected with the river; this requires the key development of an algorithm to search for connected domains. The FCDC method uses a topographic triangle network to define the DEM source data and topological relationships are constructed to undertake the flood-connected domain search. Two cases from the Songhua River in Harbin City, China have been examined to expand the usage and effect of the method. The results show that the FCDC method can simulate source flooding such as inundation by river flooding or dike breach flooding and can characterize inundation under a range of conditions. Also, it can use a range of resolutions for topographic data and water level as model input, which in turn significantly reduces simulation time while providing reasonable simulation results. In addition, the FCDC method can be used to obtain a smooth display effect for flood inundation processes. Overall, the FCDC method is useful for estimating flood inundation and preparing for emergencies because of its time-efficient performance and low input and hardware requirements.

Introduction

Floods are among the most devastating natural disasters in the world, each year claiming more than 20,000 lives and adversely affecting about 75 million people world-wide, mostly through homelessness (Smith, 2001). Consequently flood protection systems are necessary for most countries, with the rapid development of computer technology, non-engineering measures are becoming more important in flood management and decision-making (Ding et al., 2004, Gouldby et al., 2010, Liao et al., 2011, Qi and Altinakar, 2011). Establishing flood and inundation simulation systems could extend information that would be helpful in dealing with contingencies and emergencies, and thereby help to alleviate risks and losses of life and property (Chang et al., 2010). Moreover, characterizing floodplains and other areas with a high potential for flash floods can help authorities produce management strategies for flood mitigation, such as designing water control structures (reservoir levee projects), decision making for flood insurance and facilitating emergency preparedness to cope with flooding (Sarhadi et al., 2012, Sanders, 2007, Srinivas et al., 2008). Among these systems, flood inundation models play a central role in the evaluation, selection and in some cases the implementation of flood protection measures (Ernst et al., 2010, Merz et al., 2010). During past decades, predictions of flood inundation extent have been made possible by advances in numerical modeling techniques and the synergistic use of radar and optical remote sensing in conjunction with GIS modeling (Chang et al., 2010, Hsu et al., 2002).

Accuracy and efficiency are two major indicators used in evaluating the performance of flood inundation models (Chen et al., 2012). These two aims (accuracy and efficiency) are often in conflict with each other. On one hand, recent developments in remote sensing technology have increased the availability of digital terrain models (DTMs) and digital elevation models (DEMs). Data availability no longer represents a significant limitation to improvements in the accuracy of numerical modeling (Chen et al., 2012). At the same time, many physically-based inundation models have used these data to develop inundation simulations with improved accuracy (Bates et al., 2010, Jiang et al., 2011). On the other hand, inundation models based on hydrodynamics need long computational times for iterative solutions to carry out high-resolution spatial discretization (Imrie et al., 2000, Yu, 2010). The increase of model resolution results in the growth of grid cell numbers, and as a consequence, the number of steps required for temporal progress increases because the time computation step decreases with grid size to ensure model stability. To deal with the efficiency problem, many parallel computing techniques, including the Message Passing Interface (MPI), Open Multi Processing (Open-MP) and the Graphical Processing Unit (GPU), have been applied to speed up 2D inundation modeling (Hankin et al., 2008, Neal et al., 2010, Yu, 2010). Nevertheless, the growth in high-resolution terrain data has been much quicker than the increase of computing capacity for real-time or large-scale modeling. The limitations of available computing resources, therefore, still restrict the applications when very detailed information or risk-based analysis is required over large areas. Consequently, it is very difficult to reach on-line simulation of the extent of inundation using a complex inundation models based on hydrodynamics under current conditions (Chang et al., 2001, Chang et al., 2010, Rajurkar et al., 2004).

Besides parallel computing, another way to solve this problem is to simplify the flood inundation model. There are many rapid flood inundation models available in recent years, for example, the rapid flood inundation models RFIM (Krupka, 2009), an urban flood inundation model called GUFIM (Chen et al., 2009). Another good example of rapid flood inundation model is ISIS FAST, developed by Halcrow Group Ltd., which allows quick assessment of flood spreading using simplified algorithm. These tools work by pre-processing DEM data to identify depressional subcatchments in the ground surface. Hydrological input data, such as rainfall, inflows, tidal/water level boundaries are then routed through the models to generate flood extent and depth results (Paul et al., 2012).

The goal of this study is to find a method that can reach rapid simulation of flood inundation extent with high-resolution data. To improve flood model accuracy, high-quality topographic data and triangle network have been used. Also, to improve efficiency, a connected domains searching algorithm has been used instead of a hydraulic model to simulate flood inundation. Two cases have been used to expand on the usage and effect of the method.

Section snippets

Study area

Harbin, an important industrial base and the biggest transportation junction in northeastern China, is located in the southeastern part of Songnen plain (Fig. 1). The city covers an area of 53,000 km2, including a central urban area of 1637 km2, and has a population of 9.68 million. The rivers of the region all belong to the Songhua River system. The main path of the Songhua River originates in the Tianchi in Changbai Mountain, in Jilin province, and crosses the central part of Harbin from west to

River flood inundation method

In flood inundation simulations, terrain elevation and flood level are the two basic elements. Calculation accuracy and efficiency of flood inundation simulations are directly affected by the resolution and storage format of the terrain model. To acquire a more accurate simulation result, high-quality terrain data should be used, and as a consequence, can be divided into regular (e.g., GRID) and irregular (e.g., TIN) nets. Regular net data storage structure is relatively simple, but it has

River flood inundation

The Songhua River is used as an example to illustrate the use of the FCDC flood inundation method. In the Songhua River, dikes provide the main flood control. Because the river is wide and shallow and has a large shoal area, dikes with many different standards of construction have been used from place to place on the shoals to address flood control in the region. One of the challenges of a river flood inundation analysis in such a setting is to calculate the range of possible inundation areas

Discussion and conclusions

In this study, the FCDC method was presented to simulate source flooding such as river or dike breach flood inundation. Compared with a 2D hydrodynamic flood model, the FCDC method is relatively simple. As long as a flood flows into an area and flood levels are higher than the terrain elevation, the area will be inundated. Therefore, we simply need to provide the inundation water level and terrain elevation data to quickly determine the inundation area and depth distribution. The following

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51009064, 51379076) and the 12th Five-Year National Key Technology R&D Program (2012BAB05B05).

References (32)

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