Inno_MAUS – Innovative instruments for managing risk of pluvial floods in urban areas

This working package covers the administrative and technical coordination. APX also provides the central platform, which integrates the innovative tools developed in the other packages in the existing risk management structures of the cities Würzburg and Berlin.

High-resolution radar observation are essential for an effective pluvial flood risk management. Therefore, AP1 provides and evaluates radar-based near real-time estimations of precipitation. Furthermore, the working package provides 5 minute forecasts with a 60 minute lead time based on deep neural networks.

WP 2 uses and extends urban-hydrological models to quantify and evaluate runoff and retention behavior of urban surfaces (such as sealed areas, gardens, parks, retention reservoirs and decentralised infiltration facilities). This includes the question to which extent water retention from heavy rainfall events can be used for subsequent irrigation of urban vegetation during drought periods.

The surface runoff concentration links heavy precipitation (AP1) and runoff formation (AP2) to the damage that occurs (AP4). In AP3, results of hydrodynamic models are used to train deep neural networks. These can learn to reproduce the results of hydrodynamic models with the help of generally available input data and information derived from them (e.g. digital terrain models, surface classifications, runoff formation).

Based on the flood heights from AP3, the impacts on the population, the built environment and the urban infrastructure are estimated in AP4. The development of target group specific storylines and their visualization, e.g. with dynamic infographics, supports the risk communication. These storylines can be used in both risk prevention and risk response.