Review of the status of urban flood monitoring and forecasting in TC region

Abstract

With the impacts of rapid urbanization and climate change, the urban flood has increasingly become a major hazard risk faced by human being in recent decades. The catastrophic urban flood events appear every year in the world, especially in Asia and Pacific region due to its geographical composition, density population and un-even economic and social development. To reduce the urban flood risk and enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities, especially coastal communities, the Members of ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee (TC) have made their great efforts including engineering and non-engineering measures based on their different national conditions. As a key part of non-engineering measures, it is recognized that improving urban flood monitoring and forecasting is a measure with high benefit related to cost on urban flood risk reduction. In recent years, TC Members enhanced their capacity building on urban flood monitoring, forecasting and simulation, inundation mapping, etc. In order to enhance the technical cooperation and exchange on this aspect, Typhoon Committee Working Group on Hydrology (WGH) conducted two projects on “Urban Flood Risk Management in Typhoon Committee Area (UFRM)” and “Operation System for Urban Flood Forecasting and Inundation Mapping (OSUFFIM)” in the past years. This paper generally reviewed the situation and causes of urban flood in TC region; briefly summarized the progresses and shortages on urban flood monitoring and forecasting in TC Members; and initially discussed the areas to be enhanced in future for improvement of urban flood monitoring, forecasting and simulation, and inundation mapping with up-to-date development of weather radar and satellite monitoring, image-based monitoring, information technology (IT), Internet of Things (IoT), big data and artificial intelligence (AI).