Agriculture & Allied Sciences

Innovations in Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Flood Assessment
Modeling and Parameterization

Editors: Eric W. Harmsen, PhD
Megh R Goyal, PhD, PE

Flood Assessment

Published. Available now.
Pub Date: December 2017
Hardback Price: $159.95
Hard ISBN: 9781771884570
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-77463-048-8
E-Book ISBN: 9781315365923
Pages: 413 pp w/ index
Binding Type: hardbound / ebook / paperback
Series: Innovations in Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Notes: 49 color and 109 b/w illustrations

Now Available in Paperback


About 7,000 people lose their lives and nearly 100 million people are adversely affected by floods each year worldwide. Flooding occurs in almost every part of the world and is the result of extreme rainfall. Severe flooding also costs billions of dollars each year in damage and economic losses. This new volume focuses on two detailed studies that employ physically based hydrologic models to predict flooding in the particularly challenging environment of small watersheds with mountainous terrain and high intensity/high variability rainfall.

The first section, by Dr. Alejandra Rojas Gonzalez, discusses flood prediction limitations in small watersheds with mountainous terrain and high rainfall variability. The hypothesis of the study is that it is possible to perform a small-scale, affordable model calibration, and then scale-up the parameters to a larger basin-scale model. The study specifically addresses the following scientific questions: How is flow prediction affected by the spatial variability of point rainfall at scales below that of the typical resolution of radar-based products? How does parameter and hydrological model resolution affect the model’s predictive capabilities and the errors of the hydrologic model? Would the assumptions developed for the small scale enhance the hydrologic predictability at larger scales?

The second section of the volume, by Dr. Luz E. Torres Molina, describes the development of a stochastic model to forecast short-term rainfall for a tropical basin. The high-resolution rainfall data (? 100-m) was derived using the TropiNet radar system at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus, representing possibly the only study of its kind in a tropical environment. The predicted short-term rainfall data was input into a hydrologic model, and flood inundation levels were estimated at selected locations within the basin. Results of the rainfall and hydrologic forecasts are compared with observed data. The study also provides a prototype for a flood forecast alarm system.

This volume offers academia, engineers, technologists, government agencies and others from different disciplines valuable information to gain knowledge in the field of hydrologic/flood modeling. The two studies presented here provide a comprehensive examination of the hydrologic modeling process: model conceptualization, model configuration, calibration/evaluation, and model application.

Features
  • Familiarizes the reader with the unique hydro-climate conditions encountered in the Tropics
  • Provides detailed examples of the configuration, calibration, evaluation and application of a physically based hydrologic model
  • Introduces the reader to the field of quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF)
  • Familiarizes the reader with the influence of model parameterization and sensitivity
  • Provides the reader with the basis for performing hydrologic/flood modeling in their region

CONTENTS:
Preface

Part I: Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds
Alejandra M. Rojas-González
1. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: Introduction
2. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: A Review
3. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: Hydrologic Model Configuration and Slope Analysis
4. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: Methodology
5. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: Sensitivity Analysis
6. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: Bias Estimation in Radar Precipitation Product
7. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: Predictability Limits Due to Up-Scaling
8. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: Calibration/Validation of a Distributed Hydrologic Model at MBDB
9. Flood Prediction Limitations in Small Watersheds: Concluding Remarks

Part II: Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data

Luz E. Torres Molina

10. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Introduction
11. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: A Review
12. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Methodology
13. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Results on Data Acquisition
14. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Comparison Among Rain Gauges, Tropinet and Nexrad
15. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Nowcasting Model Movement and Reflectivity Analysis
16. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Estimation of Parameters
17. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Nowcasting Model Validation
18. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Validation of Hydrologic Model Vflo
19. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data: Inundation (Flood) Analysis
20. Flood Alert System Using High Resolution Radar Rainfall Data:
Concluding Remarks

Index


About the Authors / Editors:
Editors: Eric W. Harmsen, PhD
Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez - Campus Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

Dr. Eric W. Harmsen obtained his BS and MS degrees in Agricultural Engineering from Michigan State University, PhD degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and performed a Post-doctoral study at North Carolina State University. Currently, he is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus. He teaches courses in agricultural hydrology, agroclimatology, and irrigation. His professional interests include measurement and modeling all components of the hydrologic cycle; remote sensing of water and energy budgets in the tropics; and hydrology, irrigation, and agroclimatology. Dr. Harmsen maintains a website, which provides daily operational water and energy balance components as well as soil and water parameters related to drought and crop health in Puerto Rico (www.pragwater.com).

Dr. Harmsen’s publications cover a wide range of topics, including numerical simulation and field measurement of rainfall, evapotranspiration, surface runoff, aquifer recharge, soil moisture, weather-related variables, and groundwater and vadose zone processes. He co-edited the book Evapotranspiration: Principles and Applications for Water Management, has published 5 book chapters, 28 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 41 conference proceedings.

Megh R Goyal, PhD, PE
Retired Professor in Agricultural and Biomedical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus Senior Acquisitions Editor, Biomedical Engineering and Agricultural Science, Apple Academic Press, Inc. email: goyalmegh@gmail.com

Megh R. Goyal, PhD, PE, is a Retired Professor in Agricultural and Biomedical Engineering from the General Engineering Department in the College of Engineering at University of Puerto Rico–Mayaguez Campus; and Senior Acquisitions Editor and Senior Technical Editor-in-Chief in Agriculture and Biomedical Engineering for Apple Academic Press Inc. He has worked as a Soil Conservation Inspector and as a Research Assistant at Haryana Agricultural University and Ohio State University. He was the first agricultural engineer to receive the professional license in Agricultural Engineering in 1986 from the College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico. On September 16, 2005, he was proclaimed as “Father of Irrigation Engineering in Puerto Rico for the twentieth century” by the ASABE, Puerto Rico Section, for his pioneering work on micro irrigation, evapotranspiration, agroclimatology, and soil and water engineering. During his professional career of 45 years, he has received many prestigious awards. A prolific author and editor, he has written more than 200 journal articles and textbooks and has edited over 25 books. He received his BSc degree in engineering from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India; his MSc and PhD degrees from Ohio State University, Columbus; and his Master of Divinity degree from Puerto Rico Evangelical Seminary, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, USA.




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