The latest advances in computer flood modeling and animation that could help to improve the way we protect the UK's towns and cities from flooding will be highlighted at this year's BA Festival of Science in Norwich.
By improving the prediction and visualisation of the speed, direction and extent of water flow during potential flooding events, this research will help inform investment in flood defence and drainage infrastructure, where new developments should be sited and, where necessary, evacuation planning.
Developed by the multidisciplinary Flood Risk Management Research Consortium (FRMRC), these animations are based not only on state-of-the-art computer modeling tools identified and adapted by consortium researchers, but also on data pinpointing how land in and around UK towns and cities is used, such as for agricultural, industrial or residential purposes. Land-use can have a crucial impact on the severity of flooding events because agricultural practices, such as choice of crop and livestock density, can influence how much water runs off the land.
"Because the animations we are developing take into account not just the shape and contours of the land but also the way it is actually used, they provide additional information that can be used to assess the risk of flooding to people and property," says Garry Pender, Professor of Environmental Engineering at Heriot-Watt University, who is leading the research.
Professor Pender's team is placing particular emphasis on acquiring reliable, up-to-date digital information describing rivers' catchments as well as their shapes. Recent developments in data collection using airborne mapping systems, such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), have significantly reduced the cost of collecting information of this kind.
This unprecedented combination of cutting-edge computer modeling capability and up-to-date information on land use offers the prospect of a major l
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Contact: Natasha Richardson
natasha.richardson@epsrc.ac.uk
44-179-344-4404
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
8-Sep-2006