A systematic review of agent-based model for flood risk management and assessment using the ODD protocol

Abstract

AbstractRecently, applications of agent-based model (ABM) have been used to understand the interaction between social and hydrological systems. These systems are dynamic and co-evolving, which can be captured through different decision-making entities in an ABM simulation. Therefore, this review aims to better understand the use of ABM for flood risk management and assessment (FRMA). The review comprises a systematic selection of literature using the PRISMA method, which is then assessed using an adapted version of the overview, design, and detail (ODD) protocol to better understand the ABM model development process for FRMA. The review finds that the use of the ODD protocol was only seen in 25% of the studies. The studies which did not explicitly use the ODD had a comprehensive description of the models, albeit done in a non-standardised way. Modellers continue to face the dilemma between parsimony and the breadth of the model as identified from the design component of the ODD. The hydrological component is mainly captured in the sub-model process of the ODD, however, improvements in the definition of the sub-model component may warrant a more comprehensive description of the processes and facilitate comparison across studies. The applications of ABM have shown promise to understand long term flood risks, test the efficacy of policies and better understand the factors that affect warning response during the flood evacuation process. ODD adopted for this review may consequently allow for the adoption and more coherent use of the protocol to document models in FRMA.