An Operational High-Performance Forecasting System for City-Scale Pluvial Flash Floods in the Southwestern Plain Areas of Taiwan

A pluvial flash flood is rapid flooding induced by intense rainfall associated with a severe weather system, such as thunderstorms or typhoons. Additionally, topography, ground cover, and soil conditions also account for the occurrence of pluvial flash floods. Pluvial flash floods are among the most...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2021-02, Vol.13 (4), p.405
Main Authors: Chang, Tzu-Yin, Chen, Hongey, Fu, Huei-Shuin, Chen, Wei-Bo, Yu, Yi-Chiang, Su, Wen-Ray, Lin, Lee-Yaw
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Environmental aspects
Extreme weather
Flood forecasting
Hydrodynamics
Hydrofoil boats
Methods
Rain and rainfall
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A pluvial flash flood is rapid flooding induced by intense rainfall associated with a severe weather system, such as thunderstorms or typhoons. Additionally, topography, ground cover, and soil conditions also account for the occurrence of pluvial flash floods. Pluvial flash floods are among the most devastating natural disasters that occur in Taiwan, and these floods always /occur within a few minutes or hours of excessive rainfall. Pluvial flash floods usually threaten large plain areas with high population densities; therefore, there is a great need to implement an operational high-performance forecasting system for pluvial flash flood mitigation and evacuation decisions. This study developed a high-performance two-dimensional hydrodynamic model based on the finite-element method and unstructured grids. The operational high-performance forecasting system is composed of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model, and a map-oriented visualization tool. The forecasting system employs digital elevation data with a 1-m resolution to simulate city-scale pluvial flash floods. The extent of flooding during historical inundation events derived from the forecasting system agrees well with the surveyed data for plain areas in southwestern Taiwan. The entire process of the operational high-performance forecasting system prediction of pluvial flash floods in the subsequent 24 h is accomplished within 8–10 min, and forecasts are updated every six hours.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w13040405