10.4122/1.1000001125
Jenkins, G. A.
G. A.
Jenkins
Newton, D.B.
D.B.
Newton
Flood frequency estimation for an urban catchment using continuous simulation
DTU Library, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
2005
Conference presentation
Continuous simulation
flood frequency analysis
hydrologic modelling
urban stormwater.
Griffith University, CRC For Catchment Hydrology
CRC For Catchment Hydrology
Griffith University
2005
en
10.4122/1.1000001126
text/xml
Urban development of rural areas generally has a significant impact upon the hydrologic and hydraulic regime of nearby creeks and rivers. The removal of vegetation and replacement with buildings and paved surfaces also significantly affects the water quality and morphological characteristics of the receiving waters. An understanding of the hydrologic impacts of urbanization is essential for the assessment of the ecosystem health of urban waterways, as well as for the prediction of flooding. This paper describes UrbSim, which is a continuous simulation model of the rainfall and runoff processes in urban catchments. A daily rainfall-runoff model is combined with sub-daily disaggregation and runoff routing algorithms through the sub-catchments, which are defined by the watershed boundaries within the catchment. The model has been applied to a sub-tropical urban catchment, and the calibrated model is used to estimate the flood frequency characteristics of the catchment. The study results show that the continuous simulation model can be successfully used to extend the flood frequency characteristics where suitable long-term rainfall records are available. The use of the continuous simulation model to extend the flood frequency characteristics allows a better understanding of the impacts of flooding and the long-term morphological characteristics within an urbanized catchment.