Authors: Pitamber Wagle – Brigham Young University
Title: A Collaborative Approach for National-Scale FLood Mapping Using Multiple FIM Sources
Presentation Type: Poster
Abstract: The National Water Center relies on the Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) model, a terrain-based method, for rapid, low-complexity, national-scale flood mapping, but it has limitations in accurately capturing flow dynamics. Integrating diverse hydraulic models from multiple sources can enhance flood prediction accuracy, improve model validation, and support more reliable risk assessments. To showcase this, we developed the FIM Database — a model-agnostic framework for storing flood maps from multiple hydraulic models, linked to the National Water Model via NWM feature IDs. This database can store flood extent vector data, depth raster data, water surface elevation raster data, and associated metadata, providing a more comprehensive representation of flood scenarios. As a demonstration, we populated the database with flood maps generated using HEC-RAS models from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, SRH-2D models from the Federal Highway Administration, AutoRoute model, the NWM HAND method, and Flood Inundation Extent Regressor (FIER) model. The database was populated using a Python-based FIM Database script and is integrated with the HydroShare platform for streamlined data access and visualization through the FIM Visualization Application. This collaborative framework allows stakeholders to compare flood maps from different models, evaluate flow scenarios, and leverage real-time NWM forecasts, supporting national-scale flood mapping and improved decision-making for flood risk management.