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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Claire Walsh
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© 2023 National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of ChinaIdentifying and understanding the value of citizen science to improve flood modeling is of importance to flood risk management. However, there are few studies that explore the value of citizen science data, with most studies focusing on evaluating the accuracy of the data. This research articulates the added value of citizen science data in flood modeling studies. During flood events, citizen scientists measured river water levels at selected sites along a main reach of the Big Akaki River in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They also provided information to estimate water discharge of the ungauged tributaries. The data acquired was used to force a one-dimensional (1D) HECRAS flood model, and to evaluate the model's sensitivity to inputs and parameters. Varying the downstream boundary condition caused a significant difference in the simulated water level (up to 3.5 km upstream of the downstream boundary site). Correcting the Digital Elevation Model and consideration of river tributary flows in the model simulation resulted in an underestimation of the observed stage by 0.08 m. The sensitivity analysis also showed that results were more sensitive to the Manning roughness values of the channel than that of the floodplain. Finally, this study identifies future flood modeling data collection priorities (e.g. flow data for the tributary). The flood modeling of the study area would not have been realized without the citizen science data.
Author(s): Alemu AN, Haile AT, Carr AB, Trigg MA, Mengistie GK, Walsh CL
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Natural Hazards Research
Year: 2023
Volume: 3
Issue: 3
Pages: 395-407
Online publication date: 13/05/2023
Acceptance date: 12/05/2023
ISSN (electronic): 2666-5921
Publisher: KeAi Communications Co.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nhres.2023.05.002
DOI: 10.1016/j.nhres.2023.05.002
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