Zoning and regulation of compound flooding in coastal cities coupled with tracer method

•Inundation areas are divided into three areas for different flood drivers.•The water tracer model is used to simulate the process of urban river flow.•The impact of urban inland rivers on flooding in the coastal city is analyzed.•Flood regulation measures based on inland rivers are proposed. Urban inland rivers play a significant role in mitigating flooding. However, the influence of their discharge on urban flooding affected by different flood drivers remains to be fully explored. Taking a catchment area in Haikou City, Hainan Province, China as an example, in light of the urban flooding model coupled with the water tracer method, this study investigates the degree of inundation in each flood zone under different inland river flows. The flood zones are determined by the flooding simulation results of three cases, and then are verified by the zonation based on the tide tracer approach. Finally, the tracer method is used to study the impact of urban inland rivers on flooding and the connection of hydraulic and water volume between rivers and pipelines. The results indicate that the inundation area decreased by 3.71 % as the river flow increased from 15 to 25 m3/s. In the process of river flow rising from 5 to 45 m3/s, The average flooding depth in the rainfall-affected area climbs slowly from 0.53 m to 0.62 m; In the tidal-affected area, the average flooding depth drops from 0.52 m to 0.12 m when the inland river flow increases from 5 to 25 m3/s, and rises from 0.12 m to 0.54 m when the inland river flow continues from 25 to 45 m3/s; The percentage of pipelines grows from 18.5 % to 28.0 %. This study provides valuable scientific insights and support for flood prevention planning and flood control strategies in coastal cities.