Flood modelling using satellite-based precipitation estimates and digital elevation model in eastern Iraq

Abstract

Increasingly available and a virtually uninterrupted supply of satellite-estimated rainfall data is gradually becoming a cost-effective source of input for flood prediction under a variety of circumstances. The study conducted in Wasit province/Eastern Iraq when a flood occurs due to heavy rainfall in May 2013. In this study the capability of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) rainfall daily data have been used to estimate the relationship between measured precipitation and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), also to study the relationship between rainfall intensity and flood waters areas. Rainfall estimation by remote sensing using satellite-derived data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is a possible means of supplementing rain gauge data, having the better spatial cover of rainfall fields. The approach used throughout this paper has integrated recently compiled data derived from satellite imagery (rainfall, and digital elevation model) into a GIS geodatabase to study the relationship between rainfall intensity and floodwater's areas then the results' comparison with the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) after the flood. ArcGIS software has been used to process, analyze the archived Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation data, and calculate NDWI from Landsat 8 images. In conclusions, the study explains the flood-area clearly captured by the TRMM measurements; and the region’s water increased. Also, good correlation between measured precipitation and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) has been detected.