Modeling of an Extreme Flooding Event in the Amazon Basin Using the WRF-Hydro Model

Abstract

In the Amazon, the frequency of extreme events has been increasing notably in recent decades. In April, May, and June 2021, the city of Manaus faced the greatest flood in 119 years, and the Rio Negro reached at a level of 29.98 m. Because of this, the present work aims to evaluate the performance of the WRF-Hydro model in simulating precipitation during an extreme flood event in the Amazon Basin. The simulations were performed with 1 km spatial resolution and a 250 m channel network from April 30 to June 5, 2021. Such applications were evaluated using comparisons of the variability of accumulated precipitation with observed data from National Water Agency rainfall stations. The results showed a tendency for the model to underestimate the accumulated precipitation, slightly reproducing some observed precipitation patterns. We concluded that the tool presents a capacity for precipitation estimation, with potential for operational purposes.