Influence of different sources of topographic data on flood mapping: urban area São Vendelino municipality, southern Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT Generally, the base for any flood mapping is the topography information whose resolution determines the map accuracy. Furthermore, river bathymetry in detail and the type of used model are also relevant. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of different sources of topographic data on the flood mapping by using the CAESAR-Lisflood model and three Digital Elevation Model (DEM) configurations, among which two were freely available, and the other was generated with field survey (topography and bathymetry). First, the resolution and precision of each DEM were evaluated, from the comparison of different cross-sections, besides the variation of the wetted area and absolute value of the relative error in mean velocity as a function of depth. Subsequently, after elaborating flood maps with each DEM, the results were compared in terms of flood area, mean flood width and flow depth. It is observed that the more accurate resolution, the smaller the flood area becomes. The flood map elaborated with the DEM through field survey had the best fit to the observed area. However the relation between the topographic resolutions and flow-depths was not clear in obtained results.