Hydraulic flood routing in an ephemeral channel: Wadi Mekerra, Algeria

Abstract

Wadis are a vital source of water in most arid and semi-arid countries. Catastrophic flash floods occurring in wadis are a threat to many societies. The Wadi Mekerra basin in the North-West of Algeria represents one of these semi-arid regions the most affected by floods and has been always one of the main concerns of managers in Sidi Bel Abbes province. In this work, we present the main climatic and hydromorphometric features of Wadi Mekerra watershed. We discuss the main factors that cause flooding in the studied catchment. A hydraulic model based on the RungeKutta Discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG) finite element scheme and a limited (existing) field data was applied and compared with measured flow data. The objective was to assess whether a reliable hydraulic flood routing model of a Wadi in a semi-arid region could be developed, with limited cross section data supplemented by topographic map information. A comparison between the measured and simulated results shows that the model used is appropriate for determining the flood hydrograph at the outlet of the watercourse.

The time of concentration application in studies around the world: a review

“…Flood forecasting models have been developed in several countries that have recurrent flood records to collaborate with urban managers. Atallah et al (2016) developed a reliable hydraulic flood routing model based on the Runge-Kutta Discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG) finite element scheme and a limited field data of Wadi, a semi-arid region of Algeria. Aziz et al (2017) compared artificial neural networks and gene expression programming-based regional flood frequency analysis techniques for eastern states of Australia which has the highest density of streamflow gauging stations with good quality data and is essential for model development.…”

Characterization and frequency analysis of flooding solid flow in semi-arid zone: case of Mekerra catchment in the north-west of Algeria

“…The temperature values vary between a minimum value of 10 °C and a maximum of 24 °C, with an annual average of 17 °C. The cold and rainy period extends from the beginning of October until the end of April, while the dry period starts from May and last until September (Atallah et al 2016). The evapotranspiration has an average value of 1670 mm year −1 , between a maximum of 1883 mm year −1 and a minimum of 1588 mm year −1 , resulting in the rapid drying up of soils and the degradation of the vegetation cover.…”

Review-Effect of Flash Flood

“…Flood Urban development networks are low profile in drainage [24] management. Interception reduces flow along with runoff [4]. Unwarned disasters are predominant, like floods [6] now and then.…”

“…Strict movement conservation is a cause of flood in low-lying areas [25]. Urban areas give no evaporation [1][2][3][4] change of slope, and infiltration. Floods come under both natural and unnatural.…”