Assessment of Rapid Flood-Inundation Mapping in the Amite and Comite
Rivers, Louisiana, using Flood Depth Estimator
Abstract
Flooding, moisture, and climate combined with traffic conditions are
responsible for the failure of pavement and traffic disruption. Flooding
may deteriorate the structural integrity of the road foundation
resulting in huge rehabilitation and maintenance costs. Estimating
flooding extent and flow characteristics is, therefore, key to assessing
the impact of inundation on road links and networks in low-lying areas
that are frequently exposed to flooding water. Such an assessment is
helpful for decision-makers in pavement design, rescue operations, and
infrastructure planning. Flooding from heavy precipitation is the
primary weather-related hazard to transportation infrastructure in the
state of Louisiana. Quantification of flood inundation area and depth is
essential to quantify the exposure of infrastructure such as pavement
and traffic flow to flooding in the changing climate. Two-dimensional
hydraulic models that use the governing equation of flow to simulate
flow characteristics are widely used to simulate flood extent and depth.
However, simulating hydraulic models at acceptably satisfactory
resolution and for large spatial extension may require substantial
effort. More recent methods have used satellite remote sensing to
characterize the extent of the flood, but satellite data still have
limitations in producing reliable flood depth information. Modeling
framework based on hydraulics and machine learning provides efficient
large-scale flood simulation applications. This study tested the GIS
tool, the Flood Depth Estimator (FwDET), to estimate complex inundation
patterns in an urban setting. When driven by the LiDAR Digital Elevation
Modeling and flood extent map, the tool can provide a rapid assessment
of the spatial distribution of depth in the flood-prone region and state
highway of Amite and Comite Rivers, Louisiana.