An Operational Forecasting System for Flash Floods in Mountainous Areas in Taiwan

Flash floods are different from common floods because they occur rapidly over short time scales, and they are considered to be one of the most devastating natural hazards worldwide. Mountainous areas with high population densities are particularly threatened by flash floods because steep slopes gene...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2019-10, Vol.11 (10), p.2100
Main Authors: Chen, Yung-Ming, Liu, Che-Hsin, Shih, Hung-Ju, Chang, Chih-Hsin, Chen, Wei-Bo, Yu, Yi-Chiang, Su, Wen-Ray, Lin, Lee-Yaw
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric research
Command languages
Digital Elevation Models
Environmental aspects
Flash floods
Flood forecasting
Flood predictions
Flooding
Floodplains
Floods
Flow velocity
Forecasting
Forecasts and trends
High flow
Hydrology
Mountainous areas
Mountains
Optical radar
Rainfall
Rivers
Water levels
Watersheds
Weather forecasting
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Summary:Flash floods are different from common floods because they occur rapidly over short time scales, and they are considered to be one of the most devastating natural hazards worldwide. Mountainous areas with high population densities are particularly threatened by flash floods because steep slopes generate high flow velocities. Therefore, there is a great need to develop an operational forecasting system (OFS) for better flash flood prediction and warning in mountainous regions. This study developed an OFS through the integration of meteorological, hydrological, and hydrodynamic models. Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data were used to generate a digital elevation model (DEM). The OFS employs high-density and high-accuracy airborne LiDAR DEM data to simulate rapid water level rises and flooding as the result of intense rainfall within relatively small watersheds. The water levels and flood extent derived from the OFS are in agreement with the measured and surveyed data. The OFS has been adopted by the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) for forecasting flash floods every six hours in a mountainous floodplain in Taiwan. The 1D and 2D visualization of the OFS is performed via the National Center for Atmospheric Research Command Language (NCL).
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w11102100