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Hydrological and Hydrodynamic Modeling For Flood Damage Mitigation in Brahmani Baitarani River Basin India
Hydrological and Hydrodynamic Modeling For Flood Damage Mitigation in Brahmani Baitarani River Basin India
To cite this article: Sindhu K. & Durga Rao K. H. V. (2016): Hydrological and hydrodynamic
modeling for flood damage mitigation in Brahmani–Baitarani River Basin, India, Geocarto
International, DOI: 10.1080/10106049.2016.1178818
Article views: 11
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Geocarto International, 2016
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10106049.2016.1178818
1. Introduction
Flooding constitutes the most prevalent and costly natural disaster in the world. In recent years,
satellite technology has become extremely important in providing cost-effective, reliable and crucial
mechanisms for preparedness, damage control and relief management of flood disasters. A variety of
mitigation measures can be identified and implemented to reduce or minimize the impact of flood-
ing. Such mitigation measures include flood forecasting and warning, flood-prone area zoning and
management (Subramanya 1991). Traditionally, gathering and analysing hydrologic data related to
floodplains and flood-prone areas have been a time-consuming effort requiring extensive field obser-
vations and calculations. With the development of remote sensing and computer analysis techniques,
traditional techniques now can be supplemented with these new methods of acquiring quantitative
and qualitative flood hazard information (Durga Rao et al. 2011).
Hydrological and hydraulic modelling can produce the demo of incidents configured out from
basin, hydrologic and hydraulic elements and parameters for events and its updates. More ground
detail and expertise can serve more acceptable model result. For flood disaster damage mitigation, an
effective and accurate approach to estimate incoming discharge will help those downstream respond
to possible threats. Computation of run-off is necessary for designing of dams, reservoir management
and prediction of risks and potential losses caused by flooding. A major challenge still remaining is the
accurate prediction of catchment run-off responses to rainfall events. Satellite remote sensing provides
reliable, accurate and updated database on land and water resources, which is a pre-requisite for an
integrated approach in planning and development.
Laouacheria and Mansouri (2015) predicted run-off graphs using two hydrological models, namely
WBNM and HEC-HMS, and a GIS procedure for a small urban catchment located in Azzaba city.
They tested the effect of catchment size and time steps on run-off hydrograph shape, and evaluated
the catchment reaction to a given rainfall event obtained from the established IDF Curves. Teng et al.
(2014) described the development and implementation of a floodplain inundation model that can be
used for rapid assessment of inundation in very large floodplains. The model uses LIDAR DEM to
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derive flood plain storages and connectivity between them at different river stages. They tested the
performance of the model across several large floodplains in south-east Australia for estimating flood-
plain inundation extent, volume and water depth for a few recent flood events. Yang et al. (2014) used
combination of micro-genetic algorithm mGA, HEC-RAS and onsite instrumentation, a novel indirect
and noncontact approach to estimate the conversion factor α and thereby convert the surface velocity
to mean velocity. Thereafter, the discharge hydrograph can be efficiently estimated by applying the area
velocity method. Chatterjee et al. (2014) evaluated the applicability of HEC-HMS model. Sensitivity
analysis of the model was carried out for the input parameters. The study revealed that both the peak
discharge and run-off volumes to be sensitive to rate of infiltration and percentage of impervious area.
Ghimire (2013) assessed flood risks at a catchment scale for a small rural catchment of Scotland.
They developed rainfall profiles of different return periods using the Flood Estimation Handbook
(FEH) methodology. They estimated rainfall-induced run-off flows based on a set of catchment charac-
teristics. Kabiri et al. (2013) have compared the parameters of some storm events in the Kuala Lumpur
watershed located in Klang basin using two loss models such as SCS CN and Green-Ampt methods in
run-off and flood modelling. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the
SCS CN and Green-Ampt methods. Tarpanelli et al. (2013) estimated river discharge for two gauged
sites on the Po River, Northern Italy using altimetry data from ERS-2 and ENVISAT satellites. The
comparison between the satellite and insitu water level measurements has shown that the accuracy of
the altimetry data depends on the satellite sensor. ERS-2 is found to be less accurate than ENVISAT.
Durga Rao et al. (2011) have developed a flood forecast model for the Godavari basin, India
through a distributed modelling approach using space inputs. They calibrated the model using the
field hydrometeorological data of 2000 and validated with the data of 2001. They applied the model
in real-time with real-time 3-h interval hydro-meteorological data. Shrestha et al. (2010) provided
a methodological approach for the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) risk assessment for the Sun
Koshi river basin. They simulated the glacial lake outburst hydrograph using a dam break model.
The outburst flood was routed along the river using a hydrodynamic model to estimate the potential
impact areas. Durga Rao et al. (2014) have studied the flash floods in Mandakani River, India. They
have examined the integrated effect of high intensity rainfall, glacier lake put burst and steep slopes
that caused severe floods in the Mandakani River.
Anil Kumar et al. (2010) developed a Flood Forecasting System Using Statistical and ANN
Techniques in the Downstream Catchment of Mahanadi Basin, India. They compared the both meth-
ods and found that the ANN methods are better beyond the calibration range over statistical method
and the efficiency of either method reduces as the prediction reach is extended. Solaimani (2009)
simulated steady flow along 4 km end of Zaremrood River and derived flood hazard extends. The
results indicate that hydraulic simulation by integrating HEC-RAS model GIS is effective for various
kinds of floodplain managements and different scenarios of river training practices. Chen et al. (2009)
developed and tested a GIS-based urban flood inundation model for the urban university campus, the
University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. GUFIM is an alternative to physical-based dynamic
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models characterized by accurate results, efficient performance and reasonable input and hardware
requirements. Cook and Merwade (2009) compared newly developed flood inundation maps from
LIDAR data to maps that are developed using different topography, geometric description and model-
ling approach using one-dimensional (1D) HEC-RAS model, and two mesh resolutions using two-di-
mensional (2D) FESWMS model. They compared the inundation extent predicted by FESWMS and
prediction from HEC-RAS for the study areas, and that the variations in the flood inundation maps
arising from different factors are smaller in FESWMS compared to HEC-RAS.
Usul and Turan (2006) determined the hydrodynamic characteristics of the Ulus basin and the
riverbed by calibrating the hydraulic module of the MIKE 11 modelling system with the observed
1991 flood. Afterwards, inundation maps are obtained using together the hydraulic and GIS modules
of the MIKE 11 system. Knebl et al. (2005) developed a framework for regional scale flood modelling
that integrates NEXRAD Level III rainfall, GIS, and a hydrological model for the San Antonio River
Basin in Central Texas, USA. The results of this research will benefit future modelling efforts by pro-
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viding a tool for hydrological forecasts of flooding on a regional scale. While designed for the San
Antonio River Basin, this regional scale model may be used as a prototype for model applications in
other areas of the country. Bjerklie et al. (2005) used Manning and Chezy equations to estimate the
discharge for a reach of the Missouri River using remotely sensed hydraulic information. Zhang et al.
(2004) estimated river discharge from non trapezoidal open channel using QuickBird-2 satellite
imagery. They focused on the measurement of surface water width coupled with river width-stage and
remote stage-discharge rating curves, was applied to the Yangtze River, China. An accurate estimate
of river discharge was obtained.
Considering all these, present paper focuses on development of hydrological and hydrodynamic
model through distributed modelling approach for stream flow forecast in the Brahmani–Baitarani
Basin and to simulate the flood inundation in the floodplains using high-resolution DEM. This will
help in forecasting the flood, it’s possible inundation, and to plan for relief and rescue operations to
reduce the flood damage.
of the study area at the 1:250,000 scale was obtained from the National Bureau of Soil Sciences and
Land-Use Planning of India and used in the study. Loamy and clayey soils are the predominant soils
in the study basin.
The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is the main input for topographic parameter extraction
both in hydrological and hydraulic modelling. CARTOSAT DEM of 30 m resolution was used
to extract various topographic and hydraulic parameters of the basin such as slopes, lag time,
time of concentration, etc. Sub-basins and drainage network are also delineated using the DEM
through an automated process. For flood inundation simulations, high-resolution 10 m CARTO
DEM was used in the study. Cross-sectional profiles and other river geometry was obtained
from this DEM. Landuse/land cover was used in deriving manning’s coefficients and used in
hydrodynamic modelling.
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as area-capacity, elevation-area and elevation-outflow curves were used in the model development.
4. Methodology
4.1. Hydrological modelling
In a distributed modelling, the spatial variations of topographic and meteorological parameters are
considered and the run-off is computed in the spatial domain. HEC-HMS and HEC-GeoHMS are
used as a modelling environment for developing the rainfall-run-off model for the Brahmani–Baitarani
basin. Methodology involves basin and sub-basin delineation, topographic and hydrologic parameter
extraction, hydro-meteorological model set-up, computing run-off volume, modelling direct run-off,
flood routing, calibration and validation.
Terrain pre-processing is a series of steps to derive various topographic and hydraulic parameters.
These steps consist of computing the flow direction, flow accumulation, stream definition, water-
shed delineation, watershed polygon processing, stream processing and watershed aggregation. Once
these data-sets are developed, they are used in later steps for sub-basin and stream delineation. The
basin model file contains the hydrologic data structure, which includes the hydrologic elements, their
connectivity and related parameters. All topographic and hydraulic parameters are computed in the
terrain processing stage using land use and soil textural information and DEM, and exported to the
topographic model.
Main streams were digitized using the satellite data and were fused on the CARTO DEM using the
burn stream technique. The technique facilitates delineating sub-basins and streams in flat topography
more accurately. The burned DEM was used in calculating flow direction and flow accumulation. Sub-
basins and streams in the basin have been delineated using this automated technique.
Topographic characteristics of streams and watersheds have been computed using a model pre-
processor. These characteristics are useful in estimating hydrological parameters of basins. The physical
characteristics that are extracted for the streams and sub-basins are river length, river slope, basin
centroid, longest flow path, centroidal flow path and so forth. When the stream and sub-basin
physical characteristics are extracted, hydrological parameters can be easily derived. Other hydrological
parameters such as time of concentration, lag time and Muskingum routing parameters are computed
from the terrain characteristics. Complete topographic model set-up is shown in Figure 2.
Once direct run-off in each watershed is calculated, it has to be routed to the main outlet. A flood
wave is attenuated by friction and channel storage as it passes through a reach. The process of com-
puting the travel time and attenuation of water flowing in the reach is often called routing. Travel time
and attenuation characteristics vary widely between different streams. The travel time is dependent on
characteristics such as length, slope, friction and flow depth. Attenuation is also dependent on friction,
in addition to other characteristics such as channel storage. Direct run-off of various sub-basins has
6 Sindhu K. and Durga Rao K. H. V.
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been routed to the main outlet using Muskingum routing method. This method uses a simple finite
difference approximation.
After completing the model set-up, trial runs were executed to obtain results. Each run combines
a topographic model, meteorological model and control specification components with run options.
All errors such as missing sink and source nodes, channel connectivity and so on in model set-up
were rectified during trial runs. Runs can be re-executed at any time to update results when data in
the components are changed.
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reaches the minimum to the best possible extent. During the simulation run, the model computes
direct run-off of each watershed and the inflow and outflow hydrograph of each channel segment.
The model computes the flood hydrograph at the outlet after routing flows from all sub-basins to the
basin outlet. The computed hydrograph at the outlet is compared with the observed hydrograph at
Anandapur, Jaraikela and Panposh stations.
After computing the exact value of the variable during the calibration process, the calibrated
model parameters are tested for another set of field observations to estimate the model accuracy.
In this process, if the calibrated parameters do not fit the data of validation, the required param-
eters have to be calibrated again. Thorough investigation is needed to identify the parameters
to be calibrated again. In this study, hydro-meteorological data of 2008 and 2011 was used for
model validation.
Selection of an appropriate value for Manning’s n is very significant to the accuracy of the computed
water surface profiles. The determination of total conveyance and the velocity coefficient for a cross
section requires that flow be subdivided into units for which the velocity is uniformly distributed.
Flow is subdivided in the overbank areas using the input cross-section n-value break points (loca-
tions where n-values change) as the basis for subdivision. Manning’s ‘n’ values were obtained from
the literature (Chow et al. 1988) based on the landuse/landcover pattern in the study area. Flood
hydrographs computed for the Brahmani, and Baitarani rivers are used as main forcing data in flood
inundation simulations.
a2 V22 a V2
Z2 + Y2 + = Z1 + Y1 + 1 1 + he
2g 2g
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where Z1 and Z2 are elevation of main channel inverts, Y1 and Y2 are depth of water at elevations, V1
and V2 are average velocities, a1 and a2 are velocity weighting coefficients, g is gravitational acceleration
and he is energy head loss. The energy head loss he between two cross sections is comprised of friction
losses and contraction or expansion losses.
Standard Step Method is applicable for both prismatic and non-prismatic channels, including
the adjacent floodplain. The technique is used by most computer programmes that compute steady,
gradually varied flow profiles and can be used for both subcritical and supercritical flow. The method
uses the continuity, energy and Manning equations to solve for depth or water surface elevations at
selected locations along the stream.
The basic equation for the standard step solution is a slight restatement of the terms of the energy
equation. The resulting energy equation for water surface profile analysis is
𝛼2 V22 𝛼 V2
= WSEL1 + 1 1 + hL1−2
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WSEL2 +
2g 2g
where WSEL1,2 is the water surface elevation (z + y) at the indicated location (ft, m), hL1−2 is the friction
loss plus expansion or contraction loss between the two points (ft, m).
The head loss term is a combination of friction and other (expansion and contraction) losses
between locations one and two. The head loss equation is:
hL1−2 = hf + ho
where hf is the energy loss due to friction between the two locations (ft, m), ho is the energy loss due to
expansion or contraction between the two locations (ft, m). The friction loss is found from equation
below:
hf = Lsf
where L is the length of the flow path between the two locations (ft, m), sf is the average energy slope
between the two locations (ft/ft, m/m). sf is obtained from the Manning equation for velocity, which
is rearranged to solve for sf as:
n2 V 2
sf =
k2 R4∕3
where n is the manning roughness coefficient (dimensionless), V is the average velocity, k is a constant
and R is the hydraulic radius (m)
River network, cross-sectional locations and river centre line are shown in the Figure 6. Other
terrain parameters like manning’s ‘n’ were extracted using the landuse and digital elevation model.
Flood inundation simulations show the spatial variation of the flood in the floodplains of the study
basin. Depth of flooding is found to vary between 0 and 9 m. Velocity of flow in the floodplain
is found to vary between 0.25 and 1.0 m/s. flood inundation simulation at peak discharge during
the year 2006 is shown in the Figure 7.
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6. Conclusions
With this hydrological modelling approach, discharge estimation at any river confluence can be issued,
and influence of any tributary can be examined separately. The simulations show that the computed
hydrographs match well with the observed hydrographs. With this hydrological modelling approach,
accuracy in discharge computations is improved compared to conventional methods. The study demon-
strates the importance of remotely sensed data in conjunction with GIS to derive the model parameters
to estimate surface run-off. Use of high-resolution digital elevation model like ALTM will improve
the accuracy of the model and to generate inundation map with high accuracy.
Development of flood forecast models in conjunction with the flood inundation simulation mod-
els can provide flood alarms in the floodplains, which is an effective non-structural method of flood
damage mitigation.
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Acknowledgements
The authors sincerely thank Dr V. K. Dadhwal, Director, NRSC, Dr P. G. Diwakar, Deputy Director – RSA-NRSC, Dr V.
Venkateshwar Rao, Group Director, WRG-NRSC for providing facilities and constant support. The first author sincerely
thanks Dr Deva Pratap and Mrs Y. Navatha, NITW for their support and encouragement.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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