Real-Time Flood Forecasting for River Crossings - Phase V

This project seeks to develop tools and frameworks that would allow for the easy transfer and implementation of technologies for food inundation forecasting and prediction at arbitrary locations in the river network of the four sponsoring states. The Iowa Flood Center (IFC) has developed a real-time food forecasting and information dissemination system called IFIS. The system complements the operational forecasting issued by the NWS. At its core is a continuous rainfall–runoff model based on landscape decomposition into hillslopes and channel links.

To develop a generic prototype of a flood-forecasting model that is transferable, reliable, and provides actionable information to other locations around the Midwest to provide monitoring and forecasting flood potential at critical infrastructure points, such as bridges, where streamflow gauges are not available, we have outlined a series of new activities to achieve our goal. Our efforts will now include a Technology Transfer aspect by interfacing our work with a MATC funded research project at UNL lead by Prof. Tirthankar Roy that aims to develop a snow model for the HLM model.

Flooding continues to be the most impactful natural disaster in terms of lives, damage to property, and travel time due to road closures. An efficient, dynamic, and precise system for forecasting foods will provide Departments of Transportation the ability to prepare and react to sudden flooding conditions that impact the transportation system. These researchers are developing technologies to transfer scientific ideas into actionable tools and information.

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