Application of NEXRAD precipitation data for assessing the implications of low development practices in an ungauged basin

Abstract

Hydrologic analysis in watersheds lacking rain gauge stations has been a challenge and even those with stations that do not contain the required amount of data create problems in model verification. So, the study integrates the Next Generation Weather RadarIII precipitation data and the Personal Computer Storm Water Management Model (PCSWMM) for evaluating the model's effectiveness. The study further integrates 100-year return period precipitation intensity and PCSWMM to generate a one-dimensional flood risk zone map, which shows the major sub-catchments under risk zones. Based on the identification of risk zones from PCSWMM, three different low-impact developments (LIDs), street plants, infiltration trenches, and green roofs are applied independently and uniformly to compare the decrease in flow. Thereafter, the prioritized list of critical sub-catchments from hydraulic modeling is compared with the compromise programming method, an approach for studying the decrement in flow by increasing LID application (infiltration trench) in the first five critical sub-catchments, suggesting planners and researchers identify the most critical sub-catchments and develop future potential strategies.