Search results for " Myth"

The weight of the flood‐of‐record in flood frequency analysis

2018

2019

Flooding may damage important transportation infrastructures, such as roads, railways and bridges, which need to be well planned and designed to be able to withstand current and possible future climate-driven increases in flood frequencies and magnitudes. This study develops a novel approach to predictive statistical modelling of the probability of flooding at major road-stream intersection sites, where water, sediment and debris can accumulate and cause failure of drainage facilities and associated road damages. Two areas in south-west Sweden, affected by severe floods in August 2014, are used in representative case studies for this development. A set of physical catchment-descriptors (PCD…

Use of L-moments approach for regional flood frequency analysis in Sicily, Italy

2008

Extremely great floods are among environmental events with the most disastrous consequences for the entire world. Estimates of their return periods and design values are of great importance in hydrologic modeling, engineering practice for water resources and reservoirs design and management, planning for weather-related emergencies, etc. Regional flood frequency analysis resolves the problem of estimating the extreme flood events for catchments having short data records or ungauged catchments. This paper analyzes annual maximum peak flood discharge data recorded from more than 50 stream flow gauging sites in Sicily, Italy, in order to derive regional flood frequency curves. First these data…

Derivation of flood frequency curves in poorly gauged Mediterranean catchments using a simple stochastic hydrological rainfall-runoff model

2007

In this paper a Monte Carlo procedure for deriving frequency distributions of peak flows using a semi-distributed stochastic rainfall-runoff model is presented. The rainfall-runoff model here used is very simple one, with a limited number of parameters and practically does not require any calibration, resulting in a robust tool for those catchments which are partially or poorly gauged. The procedure is based on three modules: a stochastic rainfall generator module, a hydrologic loss module and a flood routing module. In the rainfall generator module the rainfall storm, i.e. the maximum rainfall depth for a fixed duration, is assumed to follow the two components extreme value (TCEV) distribu…

Curve Number: Empirical Evaluation and Comparison with Curve Number Handbook Tables in Sicily

2014

The curve number (CN) method is widely used for estimating direct runoff depth from rainstorms. The procedure is on the basis of the parameter CN, a lumped expression of basin absorption and runoff potential, and a second parameter, initial abstraction (IA), which represents the interception, infiltration, and surface depression during the early part of a storm. The evaluation of CN in Sicily at a basin scale from rainfall-runoff multiday events is done using rainfall-runoff observations during the period 1940–1997 (mean record length of 20 years) in 61 Sicilian watersheds using three different methods: (1) the national engineering handbook, section 4 hydrology (NEH4) method (NEH4M) (the me…

Variabilidad espacial de los cambios de cauce en una rambla mediterránea en las seis últimas décadas (1946-2006)

2014

An analysis of morphological changes during the last six decades is presented for the Rambla de Cervera, a Mediterranean ephemeral stream located in the eastern sector of the Iberian Mountain Range. The studied channel (16.5 km) has two contrasted sectors: a horst confined sector (5.5 km) and a graben sector (11 km). Channel changes were analysed through the analysis of aerial photographs, with geographical information systems (GIS) and comparison of topographic surveys made with a GPS-RTK. Between 1946 and 2006 the Rambla de Cervera, underwent channel adjustments comparable to those observed in other Mediterranean rivers. The gravel channel markedly narrowed, losing width (68.5%) and chann…

Estimation of flood inundation probabilities using global hazard indexes based on hydrodynamic variables

2008

In this paper a new procedure to derive flood hazard maps incorporating uncertainty concepts is presented. The layout of the procedure can be resumed as follows: (1) stochastic input of flood hydrograph modelled through a direct Monte-Carlo simulation based on flood recorded data. Generation of flood peaks and flow volumes has been obtained via copulas, which describe and model the correlation between these two variables independently of the marginal laws involved. The shape of hydrograph has been generated on the basis of a historical significant flood events, via cluster analysis; (2) modelling of flood propagation using a hyperbolic finite element model based on the DSV equations; (3) de…

Flood events in Mediterranean ephemeral streams (ramblas) in Valencia region, Spain

2001

This article deals with flood events in Mediterranean ephemeral streams typical of the Valencia region. The combination of the basin physical characteristics steep slopes, sparse vegetation, thin soils and permeable rock. and intense, heavy and irregularly distributed rain, generates flash floods. Runoff generation is sudden, giving rise to flash floods with sharp, narrow hydrographs with short time lags. The high amount of runoff is, nevertheless, only a small fraction of the total rainfall, since the characteristics of the river basins are such that infiltration of large amounts of water occurs. Using daily hydrological data from the Rambla de la Viuda basin and 5-min data from both the B…

A diachronic analysis of estuarine turbidity due to a flood following an extreme rainfall event

2011

During floods following rainfall events characterized by long return period, rivers bring to their mouths the higher concentration of sediments. This paper deals with a qualitative assessment of coastal water and turbidity load in estuarine waters as a consequence of an intense rainfall event occurred on the 16t h and 17 th September 2003 in the eastern part of Sicily. Although empirical relationships to estimate turbidity using remote sensing can be found in literature, however models parameters need to be calibrated through in situ measures acquired via intensive field campaigns. The algorithm used within this research was calibrated using field data acquired during three periods in 2008 …

Two-Dimensional Hydraulic Modeling and Analysis of Morphological Changes in the Palancia River (Spain) During a Severe Flood Event on October 2000

2013

This paper analyzes the possibilities that mathematical models offer to reconstruct flood events, and to predict their erosional and sedimentary effects. To that end, the severe flood event of October 2000 of the Palancia River (Valencia, Spain) is assessed. The hydraulic reconstruction was performed with the software GUAD 2D, a two-dimensional mathematical simulation model for shallow water conditions. The results obtained from the mathematical model and the hydraulic-sedimentological analysis were compared with the flood-related features mapped by means of geomorphologic photo-interpretation and field observations. This comparative study illustrates that these models constitute a powerful…