A simplified approach for flood modeling in urban environments

Abstract A rapid increase in the risk of urban flooding in recent years has urged the research community to enrich approaches to deal with urban flooding problems. The state-of-the-art approach consists of coupling one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic models. However, at present such coupled 1D/2D models are mostly commercial and complex to build and run. The present study has proposed a new simple approach for modeling urban flooding by coupling Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) and LISFLOOD-FP, two widely used freewares with relatively simple components. The coupled model was firstly applied to the Shiqiao Creek District in Dongguan City, South China, and verified against four major historical floods. The testing results demonstrate the capability of the coupled model in predicting urban flooding. The successful coupling of SWMM and LISFLOOD-FP offers another simple, practical approach for urban flooding estimation, which can be readily used by non-expert users or those who do not have access to commercial modules.