Urban food simulation by coupling a hydrodynamic model with a hydrological model

Abstract

This work introduces a new integrated flood modelling tool in urban areas by coupling a hydrodynamic model with a hydrological model in order to overcome the drawbacks of each individual modelling approach, i.e. high computational costs usually associated with hydrodynamic models and less detailed physical representations of the underlying flow processes corresponding to hydrological models. Crucial to the simulation process is to first divide the catchment hydraulic and hydrological zones where the corresponding model is then applied. In the hydrological zones that have more homogeneous land cover and relatively simple topography, a conceptual lumped model is applied to obtain the surface runoff, which is then routed by a group of pre-acquired ‘unit hydrographs’ to the zone border, for high-resolution flood routing in the hydraulic zones with complex topographic features, including roads, buildings, etc. In hydraulic zones, a full 2D hydrodynamic model is applied to provide more detailed flooding information e.g. water depth, flow velocity and arrival time. The new integrated flood modelling tool is validated in Morpeth, the North East of England by reproducing the September 2008 flood event during which the town was severely inundated following an intense rainfall event. Moreover, the coupled model is investigated and evaluated according to the effects from temporal and spatial resolutions, friction, rainfall, infiltration, buildings and coupling methods. In addition, the model is also employed to implement flood damage estimations with different scenarios of the upstream storage and flood defences in the town centre. Whilst producing similar accuracy, the new model is shown to be much more efficient compared with the hydrodynamic model depending on the hydrological zone percentage. These encouraging results indicate that the new modelling tool could be robust and efficient for practitioners to perform flood modelling, damage estimation, risk assessment and flood management in urban areas and large-scale catchments.