Abstract
Flood early warning systems (FEWSs)—one of the most common flood-impact mitigation measures—are currently in operation globally. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) strongly advocates for an increase in their availability to reach the targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Comprehensive FEWS consists of four components, which includes (1) risk knowledge, (2) monitoring and forecasting, (3) warning, dissemination, and communication, and (4) response capabilities. Operational FEWSs have varying levels of complexity, depending on available data, adopted technology, and know-how. There are apparent differences in sophistication between FEWSs in developed countries that have the financial capabilities, technological infrastructure, and human resources and developing countries where FEWSs tend to be less advanced. Fortunately, recent advances in remote sensing, artificial intelligence (AI), information technologies, and social media are leading to significant changes in the mechanisms of FEWSs and provide the opportunity for all FEWSs to gain additional capability. These technologies are an opportunity for developing countries to overcome the technical limitations that FEWSs have faced so far. This chapter aims to discuss the challenges in FEWSs in brief and exposes technological advances and their benefits in flood forecasting and disaster mitigation.
Highlights
Since the year 2000 through to the end of 2018, a total of 5338 water-related disasters (WRD) are reported and led to over 326,000 fatalities and economic losses of more than USD 1.7 trillion globally
Floods alone were responsible for economic losses of nearly USD 500 billion globally—about one-third of the total financial damages caused by all WRD [1, 2]
The level of technological complexity in an operational Flood early warning systems (FEWSs) varies significantly among different nations as well as different river basins, depending on several factors. These factors include access to comprehensive, timely, relevant, and reliable hydroclimatic information about the area covered by the FEWS, the availability of technically skilled personnel and computational capabilities to process the information, and the ability to communicate the information to relevant stakeholders efficiently
Summary
Since the year 2000 through to the end of 2018, a total of 5338 water-related disasters (WRD) are reported and led to over 326,000 fatalities and economic losses of more than USD 1.7 trillion globally. The level of technological complexity in an operational FEWS varies significantly among different nations as well as different river basins, depending on several factors These factors include access to comprehensive, timely, relevant, and reliable hydroclimatic information about the area covered by the FEWS, the availability of technically skilled personnel and computational capabilities to process the information, and the ability to communicate the information to relevant stakeholders efficiently. There is, inertia in technology adoption, and a majority of systems are in the developing world still using “traditional technologies” such as networks of hydrometric and climatic gauges, sometimes combined with lumped or semi-distributed hydrologic models These systems are referred to as “Traditional FEWSs” in this chapter.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
