Abstract
AbstractThe behaviors and impacts of flash floods (FF) are different based on the climatic regions. To understand such difference, two case studies were selected for the analysis: Wadi Uday, Oman and Sume Basin, Paraiba, Brazil. The rainfall-runoff inundation model (RRI) was used to simulate the discharge and flood inundation of the recent flood events to understand the severity and frequency of flash floods to better assess the current mitigation measures. The current FF situations in arid and semiarid basins were analyzed, and the hazards associated with flood phenomenon were assessed for various calculated rainfall return periods using RRI model. To this end, a flash flood index (average water depth per total basin area) was calculated as a basis to understand the impact of flash floods. A coupling of this index with the FF histories was included to provide a comprehensive overview of the FF vulnerability of arid and semiarid basins. We concluded that FFs tend to be more severe and extreme in arid regions than in semiarid regions, despite the lower frequency of FFs and the water scarcity in arid regions. Distributed dams also proved to be more effective in preventing FFs in arid regions than in semiarid regions.
Highlights
Arid and semiarid areas make up approximately one-third of the total area of the world, and there are implications caused by the expansion of urban regions due to the increase in population (Huang et al 2016; Metzger et al 2020) that lead to intensified flash flood risks
Understanding the difference between arid and semiarid regions as well as assessing the flash flood risks using distributed hydrological models is crucial for better flood risk reduction and proposing proper mitigation measures in such regions
The hydrological model utilized in this study is called the rainfall-runoff inundation model (RRI), which is capable of simulating rainfall runoff and flood inundation simultaneously
Summary
Arid and semiarid areas make up approximately one-third of the total area of the world, and there are implications caused by the expansion of urban regions due to the increase in population (Huang et al 2016; Metzger et al 2020) that lead to intensified flash flood risks. The main objective of this study is to holistically compare arid and semiarid basins, considering characteristics such as the climate, aridity, hydrology, etc., of the two types of basins in addition to understanding flash flood phenomena in selected basins in Oman and Brazil With this framework, a hydrological rainfall-runoff model was applied to assess the flood hazard levels based on calculations of the flood index (average water inundation depth per basin area). Abdel-Fattah et al (2021) studied flash floods in wadi systems considering different scenarios of mitigation measures, stating that both distributed and single dam structures each have some advantages and disadvantages depending on the purposes and objectives of the proposed dams. This study compared the efficiency of different mitigation measures for flash floods, considering both concentrated and distributed dam scenarios to evaluate which scenario is more advantageous for the region from a comprehensive perspective
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