Flood analysis: On the automation of the geomorphological-historical method

Abstract

Different methods to assess the flood return period are available in the literature. The hydrological-hydraulic approaches, among the best-known quantitative methods, oversimplify the complex characteristics of the fluvial systems. Additionally, they rely on data that are usually criticized because of their low quality and representativity. In contrast, the semi-quantitative approach based on geomorphological and historical information has lead to more realistic and promising results in pilot studies. This approach is based on highly informative field data providing valuable knowledge which can be used to test the aforementioned quantitative approaches. The aim of this work is to analyze the kind of information that is required to apply the latter method and to explore the possibilities of its automation. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.