Accumulation-based Runoff and Pluvial Flood Estimation Tool (AccRo v.1.0)

Abstract

Knowledge about spatially distributed inundation depth and overland flow quantities, as well as related flow velocities, is critical information for establishing a pluvial flood forecasting system and the related disaster management. This kind of information is often derived from computationally demanding simulations with 2-dimensional hydrodynamic models, limiting the number of scenarios for which information can be provided and challenging real-time forecasting. To address this gap, we developed the model AccRo (Accumulation-based Runoff and Flooding), which is a computationally efficient method to derive maximum inundation depth, maximum flow velocity and maximum specific discharge of a flood event at larger spatial scales, based on an improved flow accumulation method to better represent the spatial extent of inundated areas. To assess the quality of AccRo, we compare the results from the AccRo model with the results of two different state-of-the-art 2-dimensional hydrodynamic models for design cases as well as real-world pluvial flood examples. We find that AccRo is able to represent both, the analytical solution for the design cases and the simulations of the hydrodynamic models in the real-world example in high quality, well within the range of the two hydrodynamic models. In combination with the low computational requirements, we conclude that AccRo is a valuable tool for assessing pluvial flood hazards, typically based on peak conditions of water depths, discharges and flow velocities as well as the maximum spatial extend of flooded area.