Flood Extent Mapping Using Elevation and Water Gauge Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for flood extent mapping and prediction are slow, inaccurate, and resource-intensive, relying on complex hydrological models that require large amounts of input data and are prone to uncertainty, making them less effective for timely and accurate flood management.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented flood extent mapping and prediction method that uses elevation data and water gauge data to correlate water gauges with points along a waterway, determining water depth values, and generating a flood map that provides accurate and rapid estimation of flood extent and peak water depth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complex hydrological models are used for flood extent mapping, then measurement precision may improve, but computational resources and processing time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the flood mapping problem into distinct computational stages: (1) processing elevation data to create digital terrain models, (2) processing water gauge data to determine water levels, (3) calculating water depth values by combining elevation and water level data, and (4) generating the flood map. This segmentation allows each stage to be optimized independently and processed efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and uses only the essential data elements needed for flood mapping: elevation data from digital terrain models and water level data from water gauges. By taking out only the critical parameters (elevation, water level, and their difference for water depth) rather than using comprehensive hydrological models, the system achieves adequate accuracy with reduced computational complexity.
2Measurement precision
If complex hydrological models with large amounts of input data are used, then flood prediction accuracy may improve, but processing speed and scalability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential input data needed for flood mapping: elevation data from digital terrain models and water level data from water gauges. This extraction of critical parameters eliminates the need for comprehensive hydrological models requiring large datasets, thereby improving processing speed while maintaining adequate prediction accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the approach from using multiple hydrological parameters (precipitation, soil moisture, vegetation, etc.) to focusing on two key parameters: elevation and water level. By changing the parameter set to only those directly necessary for calculating water depth, the system achieves faster processing while maintaining practical prediction accuracy.
3Reliability
If traditional flood mapping methods are used, then comprehensive flood analysis may be achieved, but time consumption and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the flood mapping process into independent, efficiently processable stages: obtaining elevation data, obtaining water gauge data, correlating gauges to waterway points, determining water depth values, and generating the flood map. This segmentation enables rapid processing while maintaining comprehensive flood analysis capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses existing, readily available data sources (digital terrain models and water gauge networks) that already capture the necessary information. By leveraging these pre-existing data infrastructure resources, the system avoids time-consuming data collection while achieving reliable flood mapping.
Data Source
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AI summary
Flood extent mapping and prediction methods and systems are disclosed. A computer-implemented flood extent mapping and prediction method comprises: obtaining elevation data associated with a waterway and defining a line through the waterway in an upstream to downstream direction; obtaining water gauge data comprising one or more locations of one or more water gauges along the waterway, respectively, and water level data at each of the one or more water gauges; correlating the one or more water gauges to one or more respective points along the line through the waterway based on the one or more locations; determining a water depth value at each of the one or more respective points using the water level data from correlated water gauges and the elevation data; and generating a flood map based on the water depth value at each of the one or more respective points along the line through the waterway.