Representation of a Post-Fire Flash-Flood Event Combining Meteorological Simulations, Remote Sensing, and Hydraulic Modeling

Abstract

Wildfires are an escalating global threat, jeopardizing ecosystems and human activities. Among the repercussions in the ecosystem services of burnt areas, there are altered hydrological processes, which increase the risks of flash floods. There is limited research addressing this issue in a comprehensive way, considering pre- and post-fire conditions to accurately represent flood events. To address this gap, we present a novel approach combining multiple methods and tools for an accurate representation of post-fire floods. The 2019 post-fire flood in Kineta, Central Greece is used as a study example to present our framework. We simulated the meteorological conditions that caused this flood using the atmospheric model WRF-ARW. The burn extent and severity and the flood extent were assessed through remote sensing techniques. The 2D HEC-RAS hydraulic–hydrodynamic model was then applied to represent the flood event, using the rain-on-grid technique. The findings underscore the influence of wildfires on flooding dynamics, highlighting the need for proactive measures to address the increasing risks. The integrated multidisciplinary approach used offers an improved understanding on post-fire flood responses, and also establishes a robust framework, transferable to other similar cases, contributing thus to enhanced flood protection actions in the face of escalating fire-related disasters.

Optimization Examples for Water Allocation, Energy, Carbon Emissions, and Costs

“…This logic has been a useful approach for several aspects of WRM research and practice, with various applications [8,9], including water resources allocation [10][11][12], water infrastructure, irrigation networks, dams and reservoirs, hydropower works, etc. [13][14][15], hydrology and hydraulics [16][17][18], disaster analysis and management [19][20][21], water quality management [22][23][24][25], transboundary water management [26][27][28][29], policy/governance/development [30][31][32][33][34][35], Water-Energy-Food Nexus [36][37][38], and other cross-disciplinary fields such as hydro-economics, socio-hydrology, ecohydrology, etc. [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46].…”

Integrating Ensemble Weather Predictions in a Hydrologic-Hydraulic Modelling System for Fine-Resolution Flood Forecasting: The Case of Skala Bridge at Evrotas River, Greece

“…This allows us to assess the uncertainties in each modelling stage (weather, streamflow, water depth). The small scale is a comparative advantage over existing approaches, including the sole other application of this system [31] (which, however, did not consider an ensemble forecasting and, thus, an uncertainty assessment). In this work, the small-scale precision was achieved by exploiting analyses from Remote Sensing for our study area, along with data obtained from drones, to create a refined terrain model, allowing us to focus even on specific infrastructure elements (i.e., a small bridge) to showcase its flooding probability under a real-world event.…”