Overland flow and pathway analysis for modelling of urban pluvial flooding

Abstract

Research on improving an overland flow model is presented for urban pluvial flooding under the dual-drainage concept where sewer flow dynamically interacts with overland flow. This occurs during heavy storms when the sewer system is surcharged. The system becomes pressurised and overland flow increases by the additional volume flowing out from the sewer. To represent the overland flow realistically, a new methodology was developed to automatically create the overland flow network which can interact with the drainage system. Use is made of high-resolution, accurate Digital Elevation Model data collected by the LiDAR technique. This approach updates the current urban drainage models to urban flood models with detailed representation of overland flow processes such as pond forming, flow through preferential surface pathways and surface drainage capacity. This work advances new areas of urban flood management including improvement in real-time control and of links with rainfall now-casting, and short term urban flood forecasting. The dual-drainage approach is appropriate for real-time applications.