An integrated approach for urban pluvial flood risk assessment at catchment level

Keywords: urban pluvial flooding; flood exposure, social vulnerability; topographic control index
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 28

Abstract

With the rapid development of urbanization and global climate change, urban pluvial floods have occurred more frequently. Despite of the increasing urban pluvial flood risk, current research is focused more on fluvial flooding and coastal flooding. Pluvial flooding risk assessment is less investigated. In this study, we compute the Exposure Index (EI) and Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) of urban pluvial flooding at catchment level, and then derive a composite Pluvial Flooding Risk Index (PFRI). EI is evaluated based on two indicators, a depression-based Topographic Control Index (TCI) and impervious area ratio. The SoVI is measured based on a set of socio-economic indicators. Finally, PFRI is generated based on multiplying EI with SoVI. Our results demonstrate the spatial heterogeneity of exposure and social vulnerability, as well as the composite pluvial flooding risk across the study area. Furthermore, we explore the impacts of different combinations of exposure and social vulnerability to provide some insights for formulating tailored flood mitigation strategies. Our catchment-based urban pluvial flooding risk assessment method can provide a comprehensive understanding of urban pluvial flooding and promote the formulation of effective flood mitigation strategies from the catchment perspective.