Abstract

ArcGIS for a coupled hydrologic - hydraulic model
Track: Water Resources
Authors: PHU NGUYEN

Flash floods are one of the most devastating natural hazards. In this research, we developed a new framework to couple a hydrologic model (HL-RDHM) with a hydraulic model (BreZo) for flash flood modeling. HL-RDHM works as a rainfall-runoff model to produce surface runoff at coarse resolution (4km). BreZo is employed to simulate the flow in the river systems and flood plains at very high resolution (10m). State-of-the-art ArcGIS tools offer wonderful functionalities making the coupling possible. Arc Hydro tools are useful for watershed processing. Multiple ArcGIS tools are also employed to design the complex irregular mesh for BreZo. The simulation results of flash floods are managed with ArcGIS Server for sharing with the public. The system has been tested for some catchments across the US and showed promising results.