In this study, daily-observed data from 481 rain gauges were used to build a new gridded rainfall dataset for Vietnam based on the Spheremap interpolation technique. The new dataset, called Vietnam Gridded Precipitation (VnGP) Dataset has the resolution of 0.25° and covers the period 1980−2010. The validation was done for VnGP by assessing the spatial distribution, correlations, mean abosolute errors, root mean square errors with gauge observations. Results showed that VnGP had a relatively better performance compared to the datasets that used different interpolation techniques or used less number of input rain gauges. VnGP is currently available at the Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS) managed by the

One-year meteorological radar observations (from November 2006 to October 2007) over a region from the west coast of central Sumatera (Sumatra) through the Mentawai Strait (about 130-km width) to Siberut Island were analyzed, and modulation of rainfall diurnal cycle (DC) in the region by the Madden−Julian oscillation (MJO) was studied. The DC peaked in the afternoon over Sumatera and Siberut islands, and in the nighttime/early morning over Mentawai Strait between the islands. Over the strait, offshore (westward) migration of the DC peak was distinct when the MJO active phase was propagating eastward over the Indian Ocean, whereas the migration was indistinct after the active phase passed over Sumatera. When the MJO active phase was propagating eastward over the eastern Indian Ocean, the DC was amplified, and daily rainfall maximum tended to appear over western Sumatera including the strait. The DC peak originating from Sumatera reached Siberut, and the DC over Siberut had an additional, stronger rainfall peak after midnight.

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Extreme rainfall events cause severe flooding and/or landslides almost every summer in Japan. It seems that the frequency of such events and induced human/economic losses has increased in recent years. A torrential rainfall event in early July 2018 caused severe flooding in many river basins over Hiroshima and Okayama Prefectures of western Japan and resulted a number of fatalities and serious damage to property. One of them is the Oda river basin (about 498 km2), which was severely affected by the flood during the event. Different types of observation systems were used to measure or estimate rainfall for this event.Comparison of radar and satellite-based rainfall shows a good agreement with the rain gauge observations of the entire period. Basin-mean total rainfall from Japan Meteorological Agency's analyzed radar rainfall (RADJ), Water and Disaster Management Bureau's radar rainfall (RADW), Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System (AMeDAS), and satellite-based rainfall data (GSMaP) were about 314, 322, 357 and 304 mm during July 5-7 2018.In this study, we applied Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (RRI) to acquire a detailed understanding of flood processes in the Oda river basin. All the available rainfall data including different spatial resolution of hydrographic features were considered as the main input data in the model separately. Gridded flow and map of the possible maximum flood depth across the basins were generated and validated. Simulated results based on high resolution topographic data are more closely aligned with observed data. It is also found that the maximum flood inundation areas estimated by the RRI model using radar rainfall data appeared somewhat closer with the extent of flood-affected areas from the model with data of the Japanese Geospatial Information Authority (GSI) over the Mabi city. It is believed that modelled results can be used an important reference in the disaster mitigation and that they may be useful for further studies.

During the first week of July 2018, widespread flooding caused extensive damage across several river basins in western Japan. Among the affected basins were the Mabicho district of Kurashiki city in the lower part of the Oda river basin of the Okayama prefecture. An analysis of such a historical flood event can provide useful input for proper water resources management. Therefore, to improve our understanding of the flood inundation profile over the Oda river basin during the period of intense rainfall from 5–8 July 2018, the Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (RRI) model was used, with radar rainfall data from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) as the input. River geometries—width, depth, and embankments—of the Oda river were generated and applied in the simulation. Our results show that the Mabicho district flooding was due to a backwater effect and bursting embankments along the Oda River. The model setup was then redesigned, taking into account these factors. The simulated maximum flood-affected areas were then compared with data from the Japanese Geospatial Information Authority (GSI), which showed that the maximum flood inundation areas estimated by the RRI model and the GSI flood-affected area matched closely. River geometries were extracted from a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM), combined with coarser resolution DEM data (global data), and then utilized to perform a hydrological simulation of the Oda river basin under the scenarios of backwater effect and embankment failure. While this approach produced a successful outcome in this study, this is a case study for a single river basin in Japan. However, the fact that these results yielded valid information on the extent of flood inundation over the flood-affected area suggests that such an approach could be applicable to any river basin.