Considered flood protections for river Ourthe and their expected impact on flood risk

Conference (2009, October 06)

A risk-based approach for designing climate-proof flood protection

Poster (2009, June 12)

In the framework of the Belgian national research project “ADAPT - Towards an integrated decision tool for adaptation measures”, a risk-based decision-support system (DSS) is developed with the aim of ... [more ▼]

In the framework of the Belgian national research project “ADAPT - Towards an integrated decision tool for adaptation measures”, a risk-based decision-support system (DSS) is developed with the aim of selecting the most cost-effective flood protection strategies. Based on detailed 2D hydraulic modelling combined with high resolution and high accuracy land use database as well as socio-economic datasets, integrated risk analysis is conducted to evaluate the benefits of different flood protection measures. The tool is dedicated to the integrated evaluation of flood management strategies in the context of increased flood risk as a result of climate change, considering hydraulic, economic, social as well as environmental parameters to quantify both the benefits (in terms of avoided risk) and the cost of each strategy. While such risk analyses are mostly undertaken at a macro- or meso-scale, the present approach is performed at a micro-scale, meaning that the considered assets are the individual buildings or facilities. The methodology relies on a consistent approach in terms of accuracy of input data, hydraulic modelling and expected results. Indeed, besides detailed hydraulic modelling conducted on computational grids as fine as 2m by 2m, exploited data include laser altimetry (LIDAR), high resolution and high quality land use maps as well as other complementary vector geographic datasets providing socioeconomic information at a micro-scale. Next to the flow modelling and the exposure analysis conducted for each building or facility individually, the procedure involves social impact analysis (accounting for social vulnerability and adaptive capacity of communities) and the evaluation of direct economic damage based on different relative damage functions. The outcomes of this risk analysis are subsequently exploited in the DSS to evaluate the effectiveness of individual flood protection measures. Finally all costs and benefits (avoided risk) are combined to enable the evaluation of flood protection strategies. Every scenario for which benefits outweigh costs potentially adds to welfare. The scenario with the highest contribution per Euro invested should ideally be realised first. The extended cost-benefit analysis is complemented by uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of the results. The applicability of the overall automatic procedure is demonstrated by the evaluation of inundation hazard, exposure and flood risk for a case study along river Ourthe in the Meuse basin (Belgium). For validation purpose, recent flood events are first simulated and a base scenario is considered. Next, the effectiveness of a number of flood protection measures is evaluated. [less ▲]

Hydrodynamic forces acting on vertically translating bodies in free surface water

in WIT Transactions on The Built Environment, Vol 105, Fluid Structure Interaction V (2009, May)

From Hydrology to Detailed Risk Analysis, a Consistent Micro-Scale Approach

Speech (2009)

A 2D vertical finite volume solver using a level set approach for simulating free surface incompressible flows

in European Journal of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering (2009), 2009(3), 4-9

Marché des services pour l'établissement de cartes de zones d'inondations par des méthodes hydrauliques

Report (2009)

Towards an Integrated Decision Tool for Adaptation Measures - Case studuy: floods. Final report Phase I

Report (2009)

Integration of Accurate 2D Inundation Modelling, Vector Land Use Database and Economic Evaluation

Poster (2008, October 02)

Within the global framework of the climate change, according to most Regional Climate Mod-els the maximum peak discharges in river will increase in importance and frequency. Therefore the people will have ... [more ▼]

Within the global framework of the climate change, according to most Regional Climate Mod-els the maximum peak discharges in river will increase in importance and frequency. Therefore the people will have to face worst inundation conditions. In order to protect themselves from the increasing flood risk, the communities have to draw up suitable flood protection measures. The selection and the evaluation among the different possible flood mitigation measures requires developing decision-support system (DSS). This sys-tem has to take into consideration parameters such as hydraulic, economic, social or environmental. This pa-per focuses on the integration between two components of the DSS, namely the evaluation of the economic impacts of floods and the hydrodynamic modelling. The hydraulic simulations are conducted by means of WOLF 2D flow modelling system and provide as an output high resolution flood maps detailing the distribu-tion of water depth and flow velocity in the floodplains. The integration is ensured by the use of very accurate geographic databases and an automated procedure which makes the most of geomatic methods. The paper de-tails the application of the integrated assessment procedure for a case study along the river Ourthe located in the Meuse basin (Belgium). Moreover, possibilities of validation of the economic damage evaluation proce-dure are investigated by comparing computation results with real damage data recorded by the Belgian Disas-ter Fund after several major flood events (2003, 2002, 1995, and 1993). [less ▲]

Innovative WOLF modules devoted to environmental investigations of hydrodynamics 2D modelling

Poster (2008, January 29)

Hétérogénéité des échelles spatio-temporelles d'écoulements hydrosédimentaires et modélisation numérique

in Houille Blanche (2008), (5), 109-114

Les modèles numériques hydrosédimentaires doivent être aptes à prendre en compte la très grande hétérogénéité des échelles spatiales et surtout temporelles affectant les divers phénomènes à simuler. Pour ... [more ▼]

Les modèles numériques hydrosédimentaires doivent être aptes à prendre en compte la très grande hétérogénéité des échelles spatiales et surtout temporelles affectant les divers phénomènes à simuler. Pour ce faire, différents niveaux de couplage entre sous-modèles doivent être prévus (calcul hydrodynamique stationnaire, quasi stationnaire ou instationnaire complet). Outre une discussion du formalisme mathématique sous-jacent, la présente communication décrit le système de modélisation WOLF, développé à l’Université de Liège et permettant de couvrir la majorité des échelles de temps pertinentes au moyen d’approches numériques spécifiquement adaptées. L’applicabilité du système de modélisation est illustrée sur base de plusieurs exemples de simulations relatives à la conception et aux modes de gestion d’un grand ouvrage hydroélectrique en Inde. [less ▲]