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ANALYZING URBANIZATION IMPACTS ON PENNSYLVANIA FLOOD PEAKS 1
Author(s) -
Kibler David F.,
Froelich David C.,
Aron Gert
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1981.tb03933.x
Subject(s) - impervious surface , flood myth , urbanization , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , watershed , hec hms , 100 year flood , floodplain , flood forecasting , geography , geology , computer science , cartography , geotechnical engineering , ecology , archaeology , machine learning , economics , biology , economic growth
The impact of man made change on the hydrology of developing watersheds is frequently measured in terms of the ratio: flood peak after development to flood peak before development over a range of return periods. However, the analysis of urbanization effects on flood frequency presents a vexing problem because of a general lack of flood data in urban areas and also because of nonstationarity in the development process. Clearly, the flood peak ratio depends on the impervious fraction and percent of basin sewered and these factors have been taken into account in recent urban flood peak models. In genral, these models are developed either by: (1) split sample analysis of available annual flood data, or (2) by computer simulation using mathematical watershed models capable of representing man made changes. The present paper discusses the results of work in progress to characterize the impact of urbanization on small developing watersheds in Pennsylvania.