Floodplain reconstitution based on data collected via smartphones: A methodological approach to hydrological risk mapping

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the use of mobile applications on smartphones, specifically the Hidromapp application, as a technical support tool for flood data collection, as well as its use in flood mapping. To this end, information about a flood event of May 2017 was collected in the municipality of Jaqueira-Pernambuco, using smartphones and the Hidromapp application. Information was later used as input data for modeling and floodplain reconstitution. The study used geoprocessing techniques and a high-resolution Digital Terrain Model (Pernambuco Tridimensional-PE3D). For result evaluation, the reconstituted floodplain was compared with hydrodynamic modeling results using statistical indicators (RMSE and Critical Success Index-C). The app presented a good performance as a support tool for field collection of floodmark data. The applied method allowed a partially adequate estimation of the reconstituted event, in which the flooded area (extension) showed a high degree of similarity with the compared model, but with caveats for water surface elevations, where considerable discrepancies were detected in some points of the study area.