Flood and Risk Management
Fraunhofer ITWM
Description of the problem
In the case of heavy rainfall, flooding occurs in urban areas, whose consequences are large damages to buildings and the city infrastructure. This situation is the starting point of a series of research projects of the main subject Flood and Risk Management:
- computation of flow paths at the surface in urban and natural watersheds on the basis of a digital elevation model (DEM) and geographic information systems (GIS)
- development of physically-based simulation models (e. g., by shallow water equations) for the surface water
- coupling of the flow in the sewer system and at the surface. Download our animation [13.6MB, MPG]. illustrating the coupling principle.
- visualization of simulation results and parameter fields in the GIS and, e. g., by MATLAB®
- model-based investigation of the interactions between surface drainage and groundwater
- development of fine-grained surface meshes from laser scan data for urban areas
The results of this research are applied within projects in the following areas:
- modeling and computation of floodwater events in (peri-) urban areas, including the estimation of flooding risk by model rainfall (see Study Erlenbach)
- computational proof of official regulations (European general water directive EN 752: Drain and sewer systems outside buildings")
- planning of prevention measures against flooding after strong rainfalls (see Study Schwetzingen)
- determination of damage quantity and quality, e. g., depending on the water level
- planning scenarios for the connection of new building sites to the drainage system and for the renewal of entire sewage systems
- problems of insurance industry
- emergency management
