Emergency Preparedness and Flood Early Warning
The tool integrates high-resolution Copernicus data with hydrological and hydraulic modelling and can forecast the possible extension of flooding in cities and facilities.
Benefits for End Users
The project engaged two main user entities:
- the city of Essen (Germany) and
- Viaqua (water management company in Italy).
The solution helps the city of Essen decision makers, by delivering forecasts of the city’s flooding generated by river inundation (i.e. fluvial floods). It also assists Viaqua to nowcast floods generated by extreme rain in Vicenza and predict impact in water infrastructure (i.e. pluvial floods).
Key Features
- Easily accessible forecasting tool combining multiple data sources
- Highly accurate water forecasts of peak flow intensity in terms of water level and timing of the event up to 72h in advance
- Tailored alerts based on users' specific needs and local terrain
- Fluvial and pluvial flood alert
About the project
The demonstrator was developed by Waterjade S.r.l. It combines Copernicus ERA5-Land, Copernicus Digital Elevation Model and other geospatial data, with precipitation forecasts. These data are automatically ingested and used as an input to an advanced hydrological and hydraulic model that can issue warnings, predict and visualize the future flooded area.
The solution was presented to the European Commission (DG ENV) and EU Member States in the Working Group of Floods, and it can be adapted and installed to other cities or regions, with similar needs for flood early warning capabilities.