scholarly journals Changes in river flood hazard in Europe: a review

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz ◽  
Iwona Pińskwar ◽  
G. Robert Brakenridge
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
River Flood ◽  
Flood Risk Reduction ◽  
Projected Changes

Abstract Despite costly flood risk reduction efforts, material damage and death toll caused by river floods continue to be high in Europe. In the present review paper, after outlining a process-based perspective, we examine observed and projected changes in flood hazard. Spatial and temporal variability of large floods is analyzed, based on a time series of flood information, collected by the Dartmouth Flood Observatory in 1985–2016. Model-based projections of future flood hazard are critically reviewed. It is difficult to disentangle the climatic change component from strong natural variability and direct human impacts. The climate change impact on flood hazard is complex and depends on the river flood generation mechanism. It has not been possible to detect ubiquitous changes in flood characteristics in observation records in Europe, so far. However, we found an increasing tendency in the number of floods with large magnitude and severity, even if year-to-year variability is strong. There is a considerable spread of river flood hazard projections in Europe among studies, carried out under different assumptions. Therefore, caution must be exerted by practitioners in charge of climate change adaptation, flood risk reduction, risk insurance, and water resources management when accommodating information on flood hazard projections, under considerable uncertainty.

Rapid Global Exposure Assessment for Extreme River Flood Risk Under Climate Change

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1128-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youngjoo Kwak ◽  
◽  
Yoichi Iwami ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Flood Risk Assessment ◽  
Daily Data ◽  
Extreme Flood ◽  
River Flood

Globally, large-scale floods are one of the most serious disasters, considering increased frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall. This is not only a domestic problem but also an international water issue related to transboundary rivers in terms of global river flood risk assessment. The purpose of this study is to propose a rapid flood hazard model as a methodological possibility to be used on a global scale, which uses flood inundation depth and works reasonably despite low data availability. The method is designed to effectively simplify complexities involving hydrological and topographical variables in a flood risk-prone area when applied in an integrated global flood risk assessment framework. The model was used to evaluate flood hazard and exposure through pixel-based comparison in the case of extreme flood events caused by an annual maximum daily river discharge of 1/50 probability of occurrence under the condition of climate change between two periods, Present (daily data from 1980 to 2004) and Future (daily data from 2075 to 2099). As preliminary results, the maximum potential extent of inundation area and the maximum number of affected people show an upward trend in Present and Future.

scholarly journals A Novel Method for Evaluation of Flood Risk Reduction Strategies: Explanation of ICPR FloRiAn GIS-Tool and Its First Application to the Rhine River Basin

Geosciences ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Schmid-Breton ◽  
Gesa Kutschera ◽  
Ton Botterhuis ◽  
The ICPR Expert Group ‘Flood Risk Analysis’ (EG HIRI)
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Rhine River ◽  
Culture Heritage ◽  
Flood Risk Reduction ◽  
The Impact

To determine the effects of measures on flood risk, the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR), supported by the engineering consultant HKV has developed a method and a GIS-tool named “ICPR FloRiAn (Flood Risk Analysis)”, which enables the broad-scale assessment of the effectiveness of flood risk management measures on the Rhine, but could be also applied to other rivers. The tool uses flood hazard maps and associated recurrence periods for an overall damage and risk assessment for four receptors: human health, environment, culture heritage, and economic activity. For each receptor, a method is designed to calculate the impact of flooding and the effect of measures. The tool consists of three interacting modules: damage assessment, risk assessment, and measures. Calculations using this tool show that the flood risk reduction target defined in the Action Plan on Floods of the ICPR in 1998 could be achieved with the measures already taken and those planned until 2030. Upon request, the ICPR will provide this tool and the method to other river basin organizations, national authorities, or scientific institutions. This article presents the method and GIS-tool developed by the ICPR as well as first calculation results.

scholarly journals Urban Flood Risk Reduction by Increasing Green Areas for Adaptation to Climate Change

2016 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 2241-2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Zimmermann ◽  
Laura Bracalenti ◽  
Rubén Piacentini ◽  
Luis Inostroza
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Urban Flood ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Flood Risk Reduction ◽  
Urban Flood Risk

Scaling protection and restoration of natural infrastructure to reduce flood impacts and enhance resilience

Shore & Beach ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 51-61
Author(s):  
Shannon Cunniff
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Flood Impacts ◽  
Flood Risk Reduction

Restoring natural infrastructure offers much promise as a means to reduce both flood hazard and exposure to complement and supplement other flood damage reduction strategies. Interest increased in flood risk reduction methods using natural and naturebased features, in part, because of increased recognition that such could provide both flood risk reduction and other benefits, such as water quality uplift, community recreational space, and fish and wildlife habitat. Recent flood disasters and the rising costs of disaster response and recovery have triggered policy shifts toward economically efficient investments that enhance greater community resilience. While natural infrastructure is becoming more widely recognized as a tactic for building community and ecological resilience to erosion and flooding, it remains underutilized. Actions to aid consideration of natural infrastructure and scale up its use are presented.

scholarly journals Study of the Effect of an Environmentally Friendly Flood Risk Reduction Approach on the Oman Coastlines during the Gonu Tropical Cyclone (Case Study: The Coastline of Sur)

Eng ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-155
Author(s):  
Masoud Banan-Dallalian ◽  
Mehrdad Shokatian-Beiragh ◽  
Aliasghar Golshani ◽  
Alireza Mojtahedi ◽  
Mohammad Ali Lotfollahi-Yaghin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Pressure Field ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Flood Risk Reduction ◽  
Inland Flooding ◽  
Mike 21

Tropical cyclones may be destructive in the coastal region, such as the Gonu tropical cyclone, which affected the Arabian Peninsula and parts of southern Iran in 2007. In this study, a coupled MIKE 21/3 HD/SW (hydrodynamic/spectral wave) model was used to simulate the inland flooding inside the Sur port during the Gonu tropical cyclone. The MIKE 21 Cyclone Wind Generation (CWG) tool was utilized to generate the cyclone’s wind and pressure field. The required input data were obtained from the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) and imported into the CWG tool. In this study, the wind and pressure fields were compared between the analytical vortex model and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) data during the Gonu cyclone passage. Moreover, by developing a new model, artificial Mangroves’ effect on inland flooding was investigated. The results show that, contrary to the ECMWF data, the analytical vortex models well captured the storm event’s wind and pressure field. Furthermore, the flood hazard is calculated based on the inundation depth, flow velocity, and area’s vulnerability. The flood hazard map shows that 5% of the coast is at high-risk, 49% is at medium-risk, and 46% is at low-risk class in the Sur port. By applying Mangroves as flood risk reduction, the high-risk area is almost completely removed. However, medium and low-risk zones increase by 50% and 50%, respectively. This information could be helpful in disaster risk reduction and coastal management in the future.

Flood hazard estimation and climate change: impacts and uncertainties for Irish catchments using CMIP6

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hadush Meresa ◽  
Conor Murphy ◽  
Rowan Fealy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Flood Hazard ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Projected Changes

<p>In the coming decades, climate change will likely become a complex issue affecting hydrological regimes and flood hazard conditions. According to the IPCC reports, significant changes in atmospheric temperature, precipitation, humidity, and circulation are expected which may lead to extreme events including flood, droughts, heatwaves, heavy precipitation, and more intense cyclones. Although the effects of climate change on flood hazard indices is subject to large uncertainty, the evaluation of high-flows plays a crucial role in flood risk planning and extreme event management. With the advent of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), flood managers are interested to know how changes in catchment flood risk are expected to alter relative to previous assessments. Here we examine catchment based projected changes in flood quantiles and extreme high flow events for Irish catchments, selected to be representative of the range of hydrological conditions on the island. Conceptual hydrological models, together with different downscaling techniques are used to examine changes in flood risk projected from the CMIP6 archive for mid and end of century. Results will inform the range of plausible changes expected for policy relevant flood indices, the sensitivity of findings to use of different climate model ensembles and inform the tailoring of adaptation plans to account for the new generation of climate model outputs.</p>

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