Development of Flood Early Warning Frameworks for Small Streams in Korea

Abstract

Currently, Korea is undergoing significant local extreme rainfall, which contributes to more than 80% of flood disasters. Additionally, there is an increasing occurrence of such extreme rainfall in small stream basins, accounting for over 60% of flood disasters. Consequently, it becomes imperative to forecast runoff and water levels in advance to effectively mitigate flood disasters in small streams. The Flood Early Warning Framework (FEWF) presents one solution to reduce flood disasters by enabling the forecast of discharge and water levels during flood events. However, the application of FEWF in existing research is challenging due to the short flood travel time characteristic of small streams. This research proposes a methodology for constructing FEWF tailored to small streams using the nomograph and rating curve method. To evaluate the effectiveness of FEWF, a 6-year dataset from the Closed-circuit television-based Automatic Discharge Measurement Technique (CADMT) was utilized. The results indicate that FEWF successfully forecasts discharge and depth during flood events. By leveraging CADMT technology and real-time data, the development of precise and dependable FEWFs becomes possible. This advancement holds the potential to mitigate the consequences of extreme rainfall events and minimize flood-related casualties in small stream basins.