Flood modelling for cities using Cloud computing

Abstract

Urban flood risk modelling is a highly topical example of intensive computational processing. Such processing is increasingly required by a range of organisations including local government, engineering consultancies and the insurance industry to fulfil statutory requirements and provide professional services. As the demands for this type of work become more common, then ownership of high-end computational resources is warranted but if use is more sporadic and with tight deadlines then the use of Cloud computing could provide a cost-effective alternative. However, uptake of the Cloud by such organisations is often thwarted by the perceived technical barriers to entry. In this paper we present an architecture that helps to simplify the process of performing parameter sweep work on an Infrastructure as a Service Cloud. A parameter sweep version of the urban flood modelling, analysis and visualisation software "CityCat" was developed and deployed to estimate spatial and temporal flood risk at a whole city scale -far larger than had previously been possible. Performing this work on the Cloud allowed us access to more computing power than we would have been able to purchase locally for such a short time-frame (∼21 months of processing in a single calendar month). We go further to illustrate the considerations, both functional and non-functional, which need to be addressed if such an endeavour is to be successfully achieved.

Effects of Impervious Surface on the Spatial Distribution of Urban Waterlogging Risk Spots at Multiple Scales in Guangzhou, South China

“…The term "waterlogging" used in our study was used in previous studies [15,40], which was also called "pluvial flooding" in a few literature works [41,42]. To fully quantify waterlogging, at least three aspects were included, i.e., waterlogging spot location and inundation range and depth.…”

Urban Flood Simulation Using Synthetic Storm Drain Networks

“…Research presented by [1,16] introduced the multiple-linkage-element concept, which was a first attempt to address the coupling of the surface and sub-surface domain using grouped storm drain inlets. At the same time, the recent advances in cloud computing provide access to sufficient computational power to make city-wide large and complex models, such as CityCAT, practicable [17]. …”

Pluvial Flooding in European Cities—A Continental Approach to Urban Flood Modelling

“…The following regression equation was calculated: RP10 68.51252 1.01388 0.16297 0.94541Latitude 1.21321 (1) where RP10 is hourly rainfall for a 10-year return period, is the median of the annual maximum daily rainfall, is the maximum monthly mean rainfall, and is the minimum monthly maximum temperature.…”

“…Pluvial flooding is caused by intense rainfall that exceeds the capacity of the urban drainage system and is normally studied using flood models that can provide depth and velocity of surface water associated with rainfall events of specified intensity [1]. These models are typically applied on a small area (a city, or often just a part of a city), using local rainfall records and a high resolution digital elevation model (DEM).…”