Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 43841

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Special Issue Editor

Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of the West of England-UWE Bristol, Frenchay Campus, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK
Interests: multi-hazard risk analysis; risk and vulnerability reduction; seismic vulnerability; seismic rehabilitation and retrofit; urban resilience; disaster response and reconstruction; geographic information systems
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Dear Colleagues,

Over the past years there has been an increasing concern among the international community about the adverse effects of flood disasters in urban areas, whose impacts are becoming more severe and widespread due to increasing exposure of people and property and more frequent extreme weather events associated with climate change. In order to tackle this global issue, it is fundamental to promote and develop fundamental and applied research that allows better targeting of interventions to improve resilience, reduce vulnerability and enhance recovery as well as assisting decision makers to deliver more effective flood risk-reduction policies.

This Special Issue focuses on presentations and discussion of recent studies, new methods, original papers, and review articles that describe the current state of the art on the challenges related to the assessment and mitigation of flood risk in urban areas.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

Urban Flood Risk Assessment: Urban flood modelling and forecasting approaches; flood hazard and vulnerability assessment; risk mapping; spatial and temporal flood risk analysis.

Flood Risk Management and Mitigation: Challenges and advances in urban flood management; urban flood management policies and plans; practical experiences of urban flood management; communication actions; urban flood mitigation; cost/benefit analysis.

Adaptive Capacity: Sensitization of local communities; effective advice and adaptation policies of government and/or societal organisations; design for flooding; emergency response and plans; community engagement and participation.

Climate Change Impacts: Urban flooding and climate change; sea-level rise and urban coastal flooding; flood- and climate change-related policies.

Cultural Heritage and Floods: Flood risk assessment in historic sites; impacts of flood on heritage structures; cultural heritage exposed to flood risk.  

Dr. Tiago Miguel Ferreira
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • urban flood risk
  • flood risk assessment and mitigation
  • urban flood management
  • urban flood risk and climate change
  • adaptive capacity
  • flood risk in historic sites

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 171 KiB  
Editorial
Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas
by Tiago Miguel Ferreira
Water 2020, 12(7), 1865; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w12071865 - 29 Jun 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1485
Abstract
The adverse effects of flood disasters in urban areas have been increasing in severity and extent over the past years [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

19 pages, 10685 KiB  
Article
Indirect Impact Assessment of Pluvial Flooding in Urban Areas Using a Graph-Based Approach: The Mexico City Case Study
by Marcello Arosio, Mario L. V. Martina, Enrico Creaco and Rui Figueiredo
Water 2020, 12(6), 1753; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w12061753 - 19 Jun 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3495
Abstract
This paper presents the application of a graph-based methodology for the assessment of flood impacts in an urban context. In this methodology, exposed elements are organized as nodes on a graph, which is used to propagate impacts from directly affected nodes to other [...] Read more.
This paper presents the application of a graph-based methodology for the assessment of flood impacts in an urban context. In this methodology, exposed elements are organized as nodes on a graph, which is used to propagate impacts from directly affected nodes to other nodes across graph links. Compared to traditional approaches, the main advantage of the adopted methodology lies in the possibility of identifying and understanding indirect impacts and cascading effects. The application case concerns floods numerically reconstructed in Mexico City in response to rainfall events of increasing return periods. The hazard reconstruction was carried out by using a simplified hydrological/hydraulic model of the urban drainage system, implemented in EPASWMM, the Storm Water Management Model developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The paper shows how the impacts are propagated along different orders of the impact chain for each return period and compares the risk curves between direct and indirect impact. It also highlights the extent to which the reduction in demand of services from consumers and the loss of services from suppliers are respectively contributing to the final indirect impacts. Finally, it illustrates how different impact mitigation measures can be formulated based on systemic information provided by the analysis of graph properties and taking into account indirect impacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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17 pages, 5755 KiB  
Article
An Integrated Approach for Assessing Flood Risk in Historic City Centres
by Tiago M. Ferreira and Pedro P. Santos
Water 2020, 12(6), 1648; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w12061648 - 09 Jun 2020
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3264
Abstract
Historic city centres near watercourses are a specific type of urban area that are particularly vulnerable to flooding. In this study, we present a new methodology of flood risk assessment that crosses hazard and physical vulnerability information. We have selected the Historic City [...] Read more.
Historic city centres near watercourses are a specific type of urban area that are particularly vulnerable to flooding. In this study, we present a new methodology of flood risk assessment that crosses hazard and physical vulnerability information. We have selected the Historic City Centre of Guimarães (Portugal), a UNESCO Heritage Site, for developing and testing the defined methodology. The flood hazard scenario was obtained through the hydrologic–hydraulic modelling of peak flows with a 100-year return period, which provided flood extent, depths, and velocities. A decomposition of the momentum equation, using depth and velocity, allowed reaching a final hazard score. Flood vulnerability was assessed through combining an exposure component and a sensitivity component, from field-collected data regarding wall orientation, heritage status, age, number of storeys, condition, and material of buildings. By combining the results of the hazard and vulnerability modules in a risk-matrix, three qualitative levels of flood risk were defined. The individual and crossed analysis of results proved to be complementary. On one hand, it allows the identification of the more relevant risk factors—from the hazard or vulnerability modules. On the other hand, the risk-matrix identified other buildings with a high risk that otherwise would remain unnoticed to risk managers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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19 pages, 7123 KiB  
Article
Accounting for Uncertainty and Reconstruction of Flooding Patterns Based on Multi-Satellite Imagery and Support Vector Machine Technique: A Case Study of Can Tho City, Vietnam
by Sastry Dhara, Thanh Dang, Kajori Parial and Xi Xi Lu
Water 2020, 12(6), 1543; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w12061543 - 28 May 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3287
Abstract
One of the most frequent natural perils affecting the world today is flooding, and over the years, flooding has caused a large loss of life and damage to property. Remote sensing technology and satellite imagery derived data are useful in mapping the inundated [...] Read more.
One of the most frequent natural perils affecting the world today is flooding, and over the years, flooding has caused a large loss of life and damage to property. Remote sensing technology and satellite imagery derived data are useful in mapping the inundated area, which is useful for flood risk management. In the current paper, commonly used satellite imagery from the public domain for flood inundated extent capturing are studied considering Can Tho City as a study area. The differences in the flood inundated areas from different satellite sensors and the possible reasons are explored. An effective and relatively advanced method to address the uncertainties—inundated area capture from different remote sensing sensors—was implemented while establishing the inundated area pattern between the years 2000 and 2018. This solution involves the usage of a machine learning technique, Support Vector Machine Regression (SVR) which further helps in filling the gaps whenever there is lack of data from a single satellite data source. This useful method could be extended to establish the inundated area patterns over the years in data-sparse regions and in areas where access is difficult. Furthermore, the method is economical, as freely available data are used for the purpose. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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23 pages, 4678 KiB  
Article
How to Account for the Human Motion to Improve Flood Risk Assessment in Urban Areas
by Gabriele Bernardini and Enrico Quagliarini
Water 2020, 12(5), 1316; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w12051316 - 07 May 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2403
Abstract
Floods are critical disasters affecting urban areas and their users. Interactions with floodwater spreading and built environment features influence the users’ reaction to the emergency, especially during immediate disaster phases (i.e., evacuation). Recent studies tried to define simulation models to evaluate such exposure-related [...] Read more.
Floods are critical disasters affecting urban areas and their users. Interactions with floodwater spreading and built environment features influence the users’ reaction to the emergency, especially during immediate disaster phases (i.e., evacuation). Recent studies tried to define simulation models to evaluate such exposure-related criticalities, assess individuals’ flood risk, and propose risk-mitigation strategies aimed at supporting the community’s proper response. Although they generally include safety issues (e.g., human body stability), such tools usually adopt a simplified approach to individuals’ motion representation in floodwaters, i.e., using input from non-specialized databases and models. This study provides general modelling approaches to estimate evacuation speed variations depending on individual’s excitement (walking, running), floodwaters depths and individuals’ features (age, gender, height, average speed on dry surfaces). The proposed models prefer a normalized evacuation speeds approach in respect of minimum motion constraint conditions to extend their applicability depending on the individuals’ characteristics. Speed data from previous experiments are organized using linear regression models. Results confirm how individuals’ speed reduces when depth and age increase. The most significant models are discussed to be implemented in evacuation simulation models to describe the evacuees’ motion in floodwaters with different confidence degree levels and then assess the community’s flood risk and risk-reduction strategies effectiveness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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24 pages, 9408 KiB  
Article
Using High-Density LiDAR Data and 2D Streamflow Hydraulic Modeling to Improve Urban Flood Hazard Maps: A HEC-RAS Multi-Scenario Approach
by Alin Mihu-Pintilie, Cătălin Ioan Cîmpianu, Cristian Constantin Stoleriu, Martín Núñez Pérez and Larisa Elena Paveluc
Water 2019, 11(9), 1832; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11091832 - 03 Sep 2019
Cited by 60 | Viewed by 7506
Abstract
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 [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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29 pages, 4001 KiB  
Article
Built-Up Growth Impacts on Digital Elevation Model and Flood Risk Susceptibility Prediction in Muaeng District, Nakhon Ratchasima (Thailand)
by Patiwat Littidej and Nutchanat Buasri
Water 2019, 11(7), 1496; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11071496 - 18 Jul 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5097
Abstract
The transformation of land-use and land cover in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand has rapidly changed over the last few years. The major factors affecting the growth in the province arise from the huge expansion of developing areas, according to the government’s development plans [...] Read more.
The transformation of land-use and land cover in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand has rapidly changed over the last few years. The major factors affecting the growth in the province arise from the huge expansion of developing areas, according to the government’s development plans that aim to promote the province as a central business-hub in the region. This development expansion has eventually intruded upon and interfered with sub-basin areas, which has led to environmental problems in the region. The scope of this study comprises three objectives, i.e., (i) to optimize the Cellular Automata (CA) model for predicting the expansion of built-up sites by 2022; (ii) to model a linear regression method for deriving the transition of the digital elevation model (DEM); and (iii) to apply Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) for analyzing the risk of the stativity of flood areas in the province. The results of this study show that the optimized CA demonstrates accurate prediction of the expansion of built-up areas in 2022 using Land use (LU) data of 2-year intervals. In addition, the predicting model is generalized and converged at the iteration no. 4. The prediction outcomes, including spatial locations and ground-water touch points of the construction, are used to estimate and model the DEM to extract independent hydrology variables that are used in the determination of Flood Risk Susceptibility (FRS). In GWR in the research called FRS-GWR, this integration of quantitative GIS and the spatial model is anticipated to produce promising results in predicting the growth and expansion of built-up areas and land-use change that lead to an effective analysis of the impacts on spatial change in water sub-basin areas. This research may be beneficial in the process of urban planning with respect to the study of environmental impacts. In addition, it can indicate and impose important directions for development plans in cities to avoid and minimize flood area problems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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17 pages, 3801 KiB  
Article
The Development and Application of the Urban Flood Risk Assessment Model for Reflecting upon Urban Planning Elements
by Kiyong Park and Man-Hyung Lee
Water 2019, 11(5), 920; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11050920 - 01 May 2019
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 6513
Abstract
As a city develops and expands, it is likely confronted with a variety of environmental problems. Although the impact of climate change on people has continuously increased in the past, great numbers of natural disasters in urban areas have become varied in terms [...] Read more.
As a city develops and expands, it is likely confronted with a variety of environmental problems. Although the impact of climate change on people has continuously increased in the past, great numbers of natural disasters in urban areas have become varied in terms of form. Among these urban disasters, urban flooding is the most frequent type, and this study focuses on urban flooding. In cities, the population and major facilities are concentrated, and to examine flooding issues in these urban areas, different levels of flooding risk are classified on 100 m × 100 m geographic grids to maximize the spatial efficiency during the flooding events and to minimize the following flooding damage. In this analysis, vulnerability and exposure tests are adopted to analyze urban flooding risks. The first method is based on land-use planning, and the building-to-land ratio. Using fuzzy approaches, the tests focus on risks. However, the latter method using the HEC-Ras model examines factors such as topology and precipitation volume. By mapping the classification of land-use and flooding, the risk of urban flooding is evaluated by grade-scales: green, yellow, orange, and red zones. There are two key findings and theoretical contributions of this study. First, the areas with a high flood risk are mainly restricted to central commercial areas where the main urban functions are concentrated. Additionally, the development density and urbanization are relatively high in these areas, in addition to the old center of urban areas. In the case of Changwon City, Euichang-gu and Seongsan-gu have increased the flood risk because of the high property value of commercial areas and high building density in these regions. Thus, land-use planning of these districts should be designed to reflect upon the different levels of flood risks, in addition to the preparation of anti-disaster facilities to mitigate flood damages in high flood risk areas. Urban flood risk analysis for individual land use districts would facilitate urban planners and managers to prioritize the areas with a high flood risk and to prepare responding preventive measures for more efficient flood management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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15 pages, 12706 KiB  
Article
Residential Flood Loss Assessment and Risk Mapping from High-Resolution Simulation
by Zulfahmi Afifi, Hone-Jay Chu, Yen-Lien Kuo, Yung-Chia Hsu, Hock-Kiet Wong and Muhammad Zeeshan Ali
Water 2019, 11(4), 751; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11040751 - 10 Apr 2019
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 5417
Abstract
Since the patterns of residential buildings in the urban area are small-sized and dispersed, this study proposes a high-resolution flood loss and risk assessment model to analyze the direct loss and risk impacts caused by floods. The flood inundation simulation with a fine [...] Read more.
Since the patterns of residential buildings in the urban area are small-sized and dispersed, this study proposes a high-resolution flood loss and risk assessment model to analyze the direct loss and risk impacts caused by floods. The flood inundation simulation with a fine digital elevation model (DEM) provides detailed estimations of flood-inundated areas and their corresponding inundation depths during the 2016 Typhoon Megi and 2017 Typhoon Haitang. The flood loss assessment identifies the impacts of both events on residential areas. The depth-damage table from surveys in the impacted area was applied. Results indicated that the flood simulation with the depth-damage table is an effective way to assess the direct loss of a flood disaster. The study also showed the effects of spatial resolution on the residential loss. The results indicated that the low-resolution model easily caused the estimated error of loss in dispersed residential areas when compared with the high-resolution model. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP), as a multi-criteria decision-making method, was used to identify the weight factor for each vulnerability factor. The flood-vulnerable area was mapped using natural and social vulnerability factors, such as high-resolution DEM, distance to river, distance to fire station, and population density. Eventually, the flood risk map was derived from the vulnerability and flood hazard maps to present the risk level of the flood disaster in the residential areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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19 pages, 7149 KiB  
Article
Real-Time Integrated Operation for Urban Streams with Centralized and Decentralized Reservoirs to Improve System Resilience
by Eui Hoon Lee, Young Hwan Choi and Joong Hoon Kim
Water 2019, 11(1), 69; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w11010069 - 02 Jan 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3695
Abstract
Recently, the number of extreme rainfall events has increased because of climate change. The ever-widening impervious area in urban watersheds also continuously augments runoff volume. Most measures to prevent urban inundation are structural, such as the construction, rehabilitation, and replacement of urban drainage [...] Read more.
Recently, the number of extreme rainfall events has increased because of climate change. The ever-widening impervious area in urban watersheds also continuously augments runoff volume. Most measures to prevent urban inundation are structural, such as the construction, rehabilitation, and replacement of urban drainage facilities. Because structural measures require time and money, nonstructural measures are also required for the efficient prevention of urban inundation. Current operations in Korea focus on the individual operation of urban drainage facilities while neglecting the status of effluent streams. A study on urban drainage facilities that considers the status of urban streams is necessary to improve the operation of drainage facilities in urban areas. A revised resilience index is suggested to evaluate measures. For the historical rainfall event in 2010, the system resilience for current and integrated operations was 0.199 and 0.238, respectively. For the 2011 event, the system resilience for current and integrated operations was 0.064 and 0.235, respectively. The integrated operation exhibited good performance for the 2010 and 2011 events. Based on the results of this study, an operation as a nonstructural measure for the total management of urban areas is proposed. The revised resilience index could support decision-making processes for flood-management plans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Assessment of Flood Risk in Urban Areas)
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