title: Regional scale flood modeling using NEXRAD rainfall, GIS, and HEC-HMS/RAS: a case study for the San Antonio River Basin Summer 2002 storm event.
abstract: This paper develops a framework for regional scale flood modeling that integrates NEXRAD Level III rainfall, GIS, and a hydrological model (HEC-HMS/RAS). The San Antonio River Basin (about 4000 square miles, 10,000 km2) in Central Texas, USA, is the domain of the study because it is a region subject to frequent occurrences of severe flash flooding. A major flood in the summer of 2002 is chosen as a case to examine the modeling framework. The model consists of a rainfall-runoff model (HEC-HMS) that converts precipitation excess to overland flow and channel runoff, as well as a hydraulic model (HEC-RAS) that models unsteady state flow through the river channel network based on the HEC-HMS-derived hydrographs. HEC-HMS is run on a 4 x 4 km grid in the domain, a resolution consistent with the resolution of NEXRAD rainfall taken from the local river authority. Watershed parameters are calibrated manually to produce a good simulation of discharge at 12 subbasins. With the calibrated discharge, HEC-RAS is capable of producing floodplain polygons that are comparable to the satellite imagery. The modeling framework presented in this study incorporates a portion of the recently developed GIS tool named Map to Map that has been created on a local scale and extends it to a regional scale. The results of this research will benefit future modeling efforts by providing a tool for hydrological forecasts of flooding on a regional scale. While designed for the San Antonio River Basin, this regional scale model may be used as a prototype for model applications in other areas of the country.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C-1100, Austin, TX 78712-0254, USA.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Knebl
authors.forename: Z-L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Maidment
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004190:Disasters; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D005843:Geography; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011825:Radar; D011891:Rain; D045483:Rivers; D013781:Texas