Floodplain reconstitution based on data collected via smartphones: a methodological approach to hydrological risk mapping

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the use of mobile applications on smartphones, specifically the Hidromapp application, as a technical support tool for flood data collection, as well as its use in flood mapping. To this end, information about a flood event of May 2017 was collected in the municipality of Jaqueira-Pernambuco, using smartphones and the Hidromapp application. Information was later used as input data for modeling and floodplain reconstitution. The study used geoprocessing techniques and a high-resolution Digital Terrain Model (Pernambuco Tridimensional - PE3D). For result evaluation, the reconstituted floodplain was compared with hydrodynamic modeling results using statistical indicators (RMSE and Critical Success Index - C). The app presented a good performance as a support tool for field collection of floodmark data. The applied method allowed a partially adequate estimation of the reconstituted event, in which the flooded area (extension) showed a high degree of similarity with the compared model, but with caveats for water surface elevations, where considerable discrepancies were detected in some points of the study area.

Citizen scientists’ engagement in flood risk-related data collection: a case study in Bui River Basin, Vietnam

“…Feedback on errors was promptly provided to the citizen scientists to prevent implausible data. Mislocated coordinates caused GPS signal errors, and non-GPS-generated paper forms were processed based on the address of the survey areas, Google Maps, and survey photos (Beza et al, 2018 ; Ribeiro et al, 2020 ). All discrepancies were corrected, and edits and notes were documented for future analysis.…”

Citizen Scientists’ Engagement in Flood Risk-Related Data Collection: A case study in the Bui River Basin, Vietnam

“…Feedback on errors was promptly provided to the citizen scientists to prevent implausible data. Mislocated coordinates caused GPS signal errors and non-GPS-generated paper forms were processed based on the address of the survey areas, Google Maps, and survey photos (Beza et al, 2018;Ribeiro et al, 2020). All discrepancies were corrected, and edits and notes were documented for future analysis.…”

“…A local combination method was used to determine a typical ood elevation surface based on ood level points for each subdomain of 1 km x 1 km for a pilot area (Mason et al, 2021). A digital elevation model and ood elevation surface with 10 m x 10 m resolution for the whole area were created by performing the multilevel B-spline interpolation method in QGIS between elevation points and ood surface levels of distinct subdomains (Ribeiro et al, 2020). Pixels with elevation values lower than the ood surface level were ooded.…”

“…Toward ood-related data updating ICT development, especially mobile technology advances, and citizen scientists' engagement can be used to document ood-related data during and after ood events (Fuchs et al, 2019). Citizen scientists can proactively share ood information through mobile data collection apps, including images, videos, and survey coordinates, which enhances researchers' understanding of ood impacts (Fohringer et al, 2015;Ribeiro et al, 2020). Community-based hydrological monitoring networks serve as a two-way communication channel between locals, experts, and authorities (Ferri et al, 2020), promoting the data contribution of participants (Lowry et al, 2019) and updating ood situations, damage, and land use information.…”

An alternative flood measurement approach: Flood Meter

“…The system uses the SCHISM hydrodynamic model with input data such as atmospheric wind and pressure information, tidal harmonic forecasts, and prevailing ocean current inputs. Hidromapp [11] To georeferenced flood data collection and rearrange floodplains through smartphones.…”