Brian MarchandGEOG 596AWinter 2010

Feature-Level Inundation Detection and Alerting for Improved flood

Mitigation

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Flood HazardsOne of the most common

hazards seen in the U.S.Major events occur

almost yearlyInundated areas varyWarning lead-times vary The effects can be severe

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Hurricane Floyd (Sept 1999)Road closures hard to trackEvacuations difficult to planInfrastructure inundated57 Deaths$6 Billion in damage

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Flood Mitigation GoalsProtect lifeProtect propertyProtect the environmentIncrease public preparedness and

response

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Mitigation Through Mapping

NOAA, NWS, USGS water status map

Hydrograph showing current and predictive conditions

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Mitigation Through Mapping

FIMAN gage information and inundation map

FIMAN web-based map viewer

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Proposed SystemMap the impact on individual featuresAutomatedTime-basedIssue alerts for inundated featuresServe data using open formatsVisualization using common tools

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Flood Area Polygons

Floodplain Features Feature

Inundation Analysis

Inundated Features

Change Detection

Feature Layers

WMS,WFS,KML

Spatial Data Server

AlertsText Msg, Email

High Resolution

DEMs

Flood Area Polygons

Floodplain Features Feature

Inundation Analysis

Inundated Features

Change Detection

Feature Layers

WMS,WFS,KML

Spatial Data Server

AlertsText Msg, Email

High Resolution

DEMs

Floodplain Features (Roads)

High Resolution DEM

Flood Inundation Maps

System Definition

Inundated Features

Features in Google

Alerts

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Flood Inundation MapsMark inundated areasProduced from various sourcesNot reliant on any techniqueChange over timeRepresent system input

10ft River Stage Height

20ft River Stage Height

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Floodplain FeaturesAdvanced warning improves

mitigation effortsFeature monitoring focuses

effortsMany types of features are

worthy of monitoringRespond differently to each

type

Inundated roads at a 10ft river height

Inundated roads at a 20ft river height

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Digital Elevation Model (DEM)3D surface analysis requires

a high-resolution DEMDetermines feature elevationDetermines the depth of

inundationRequires a good source of

data

Tarboro/Princeville NC

Road features in the DEM

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Inundation Analysis

Change in inundated areas

Compare features in inundated areas

Use DEM to determine inundation depth

Calculate depth of inundation from DEM

Update inundated feature layers

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Inundated FeaturesHighlight inundated featuresStored separately from input

feature sourcesStore additional information as

feature attributesTime dependentEstablish symbology for

inundated features

Inundated Roads

Traffic Conditions in Google Maps

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Spatial Data ServerPresent data in most flexible

formatStore on server using

Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) formatsFully symbolized data

Web Mapping Service (WMS)Keyhole Markup Language (KML)

Fully attributed data for maximum exploitationWeb Feature Service (WFS)

Inundated Roads in Google Earth

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Change Detection & AlertingAlerts proactively sent to peopleMaximize advanced noticeImproves awarenessRequires stakeholder registrationChange detection determines

alerts are sentAlerts issued as events Event handlers send notifications

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Prototype Scope

Prototype LimitationsFocused study areaPredetermined inundation

polygonsRestrict analysis to a couple

feature types

Flood Area Polygons

Floodplain Features Feature

Inundation Analysis

Inundated Features

Change Detection

Feature Layers

WMS,WFS,KML

Spatial Data Server

AlertsText Msg, Email

High Resolution

DEMs

Flood Area Polygons

Floodplain Features Feature

Inundation Analysis

Inundated Features

Change Detection

Feature Layers

WMS,WFS,KML

Spatial Data Server

AlertsText Msg, Email

High Resolution

DEMs

Implementing the proposed system is outside of the scope of a capstone project

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Study AreaTarboro/Princeville

North CarolinaHeavily flooded

during FloydUSGS river gage

data with live updates

Inundation maps for river levels

High resolution DEMCurrent roads

http://nc.water.usgs.gov/flood/finmap/

42.7ft River Stage Height

Study Area

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Prototype ApproachData preparation using ArcGISSimulated river stage information and

acquire live from USGSServer technology using open-source tools

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Goals and ObjectivesImprove flood mitigation toolsWork with dynamic map layersBuild experience with unfamiliar technologiesGenerate alerts from changes in dataBuild a prototype system

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Anticipated Results Simulated and live river data will establish

inundated areasInundated features will be reflected in an

continually updated layerAlerts will be generated for changes in the

inundated featuresInundated feature layers can be viewed in a

broad range of clients

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Project Timeline Prototype Implementation

Week 1 Data gathering and processingWeek 2-3 Geodatabase developmentWeek 4-6 Develop server processing frameworkWeek 7 Process live data (WSDL)Week 8 Produce dynamic inundation mapsWeek 9-10 Spatial comparison of inundated featuresWeek 11 WFS, WMS, KML GeoServer setupWeek 12 Event based notificationWeek 13 Send text or email alertsWeek 11-15 Final report

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Future ConsiderationsNavigation systems can

incorporate and route around road closures

Evaluate losses from property values

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References1. Federal Emergency Management Agency (2009). Flood Hazards, Retrieved February 11,

2010 from http://www.fema.gov/hazard/flood/index.shtm

2. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2009). Hurricane Floyd 10th Anniversary, Retrieved February 11, 2010 from http://www.erh.noaa.gov/mhx/Floyd/index.php

3. Federal Emergency Management Agency (2010). News Photos, Photograph Library, http://www.photolibrary.fema.gov/

4. Colby, J. D., Mulcahy, K. A., Wang, Y. (2000). Modeling flooding extent from Hurricane Floyd in the coastal plains of North Carolina. Environmental Hazards. 2, 157-168

5. U. S. Geological Survey (2009). Flood Hazards, Retrieved March 5, 2010 from http://www.usgs.gov/hazards/floods/

6. Gupta, S., Hartkopf J., and Ramaswamy, S. (1998). Event Notifier: A Pattern of Event Notification, Java Report, Vol. 3, No. 7, SIGS Publications.

7. Jones, J. L. (2004). Mapping a Flood…Before It Happens. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2004-3060, Retrieved January 18, 2010, from http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2004/3060/

8. Gall, M., Boruff, B. J., Cutler, S. L. (2007). Assessing Flood Hazard Zones in the Absence of Digital Floodplain Maps: Comparison of Alternative Approaches, Natural Hazards Review ASCE, February 2007

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Questions?