THE AUTOMATIC EXTRACTION OF PHYSICAL FLOOD PROTECTION PARAMETERS FOR GLOBAL RIVER MODELS

Global flood risk models have large uncertainties due to the lack of flood protections such as levee in their hydraulic calculations. To implement levees in the river cross section of global river models, we developed a new algorithm for the automatic extraction of flood protection parameters using levee location data, DEM, and hydrography data. This algorithm was applied in contiguous U.S. to extract parameters such as levee height and the distance between levee and river channel. These parameters were linked to corresponding river channel for use in global river models based on river location. As the extracted parameters were delineated based on the high resolution input data, the local variability of flood protection parameters were represented. In addition, most extracted river cross sections are nearly orthogonal to flow direction, which is important for 1D hydraulic calculations. These parameters are expected to be utilized for more complex flood risk assessments.