Open AccessPluvial flooding in urban areas: the role of surface drainage efficiency
Author(s) -
Palla A.,
Colli M.,
Candela A.,
Aronica G.T.,
Lanza L.G.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of flood risk management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.049
H-Index - 36
ISSN - 1753-318X
DOI - 10.1111/jfr3.12246
Subject(s) - pluvial , environmental science , drainage , hydrology (agriculture) , flooding (psychology) , flood myth , sanitary sewer , storm water management model , storm , inlet , combined sewer , drainage system (geomorphology) , stormwater , meteorology , environmental engineering , geology , surface runoff , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , geography , archaeology , psychology , ecology , oceanography , psychotherapist , biology
Pluvial flooding in urban areas may derive from the limited or temporarily reduced efficiency of surface drainage, even when the underlying storm sewers are properly designed. This study focuses on the impact of uncertainties in the operational condition of the surface drainage system on pluvial flood hazard. The flood propagation model FLURB‐2D is implemented on a selected study area in the town of Genoa (Italy). Synthetic hyetographs based on the Chicago and bivariate copula methods with suitable return periods are used as input. While simulating the design rainfall, inlet operational conditions are varied stochastically using a Monte Carlo approach. Results confirm that microtopography has the potential to impact the efficiency of surface drainage and consequently to produce local flooding, with significant water depth in zones of flow concentration. Furthermore, the derived inundation maps allow the highlighting of areas with insufficient design of the surface drainage system (inlet size and positioning).