Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Summary
Scientific, political and public opinion is agreed that we live in a period of
accelerated flood hazard. Flood events are among the most common, costly and
deadly natural hazards. Throughout history they have been a major concern for
people residing near rivers and coastal areas. River floods may occur whenever the
capacity of the channel or manmade drainage system is unable to cope with the
volume of water generated by rainfall or when flood defenses fail. Since technical
flood protection systems have limited resistance, the sensitive points in protected
areas are exposed to a residual flood hazard. In order to have available an effective
informational tool, as well as a valuable basis for setting priorities on technical,
financial and political decisions regarding flood hazard/risk management, it is
necessary to provide/create flood hazard maps and analyze the triggering factors
which influence floods.
This study focused on the floodplain of the Ubaye River in the Barcelonnette
area, which is located in the Alpes de Haute Provence, southeast of France. The
Barcelonnette area is situated in an elongated expanse, extending below mountain
slopes and along a river channel. In case of overtopping or dyke failure, the whole
area will be impacted by a flood. The Barcelonnette basin is affected by a
Mediterranean marine influence and moderated by a mild continental mountain
climate.
In this research, the system description, hazard identification, and hazard
analysis were estimated by computing of a set of scenarios. The variability of flood
crisis scenarios (e.g. dyke failure) was estimated for civil protection purposes in
the study area, with respect to different DEM resolutions, surface elements which
affect water flow and a variety of cross sections and river morphology over time.
A selection of a sub-set of these scenarios with distinct return periods was applied
as input information into the hydraulic (1D) & hydrologic (1D-2D) models.
In principle, the analysis of flood hazard was based on two approaches: an
anticipative study of potential future events and the investigation of events that
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