EGS Seminar – Tuesday 12th February 2013

Tuesday 12^th February 2013, Room E419, 4^th floor, John Dalton East Building, from 1.00-2.00pm.

New Developments in Flood Flow Measurement: Improving the Estimation of Risk

Andrew Black, University of Dundee

Methods of estimating flood flows in watercourses date back at least as far as the late 19th C with the rational method of Kuichling (1889). Given the massive growth in river flow monitoring and the development of hydrological science since that time, it is frustrating that the estimation of flood risks remains subject to high levels of uncertainty. The value of robust estimates of flood risk relates to an increasing diversity of applications, especially in the face of climate change and its likely effects.

The data to underpin any site-specific estimate of flood risk may be specific to the watercourse in question, or may be transferred from so-called donor catchments, or both. However, contemporary methods of risk estimation in the UK struggle to make the most of the information available from ungauged watercourses which experience rare flood events, while rare events at gauged sites are often surrounded by issues of highly uncertain data.

This presentation looks at the use of hydro-acoustic, hydraulic and radar methods for assessing peak flows in a range of catchment settings, and examines the contribution they can make to improving the estimates of flood risk for high event magnitudes.