A two‐dimensional self‐adaptive hydrodynamic scheme for the assessment of the effects of structures on flooding phenomena in river basins

In order to assess the effects of river and floodplain engineering projects on flooding, a new self‐adaptive hydrodynamic scheme for the simulation of two‐dimensional river flows is proposed. The depth‐averaged motion equations are solved numerically using a fractional step method, in which the convective terms are calculated using the inverse characteristics method and the remaining terms with an explicit method based on a finite difference method. The integration is performed on a dynamically self‐adaptive calculus grid, which allows representation of the movable boundary between wetting and drying regions of the basins to follow the effective development, in time and space, of the expansion phenomenon of flood. The proposed procedure allows the grid's dynamic refinement to avoid coordinate transformation or the use of unstructured grids. The proposed method is simple and allows the thickening of the grid to accommodate the flooding phenomena on the floodplain and to calculate the velocity in the domain regions in which a higher space resolution is required. Therefore, flows running through structures such as weirs, gates, bridges or culverts can be simulated. In the paper two different case studies, approached with the proposed self‐adaptive calculation scheme, are discussed. The studies concern the analysis of the effects of structures, such as roads or embankments, on flooding phenomena in the Tiber and Tanaro basins respectively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.