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Publication
Continental Portuguese territory flood susceptibility index: contribution to a vulnerability index
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This work defines a national flood susceptibility
index for the Portuguese continental territory, by proposing
the aggregation of different variables which represent natural
conditions for permeability, runoff and accumulation. This
index is part of the national vulnerability index developed
in the scope of Flood Maps in Climate Change Scenarios
(CIRAC) project, supported by the Portuguese Association
of Insurers (APS).
This approach expands on previous works by trying to
bridge the gap between different flood mechanisms (e.g. progressive
and flash floods) occurring at different spatial scales
in the Portuguese territory through (a) selecting homogeneously
processed data sets and (b) aggregating their values
to better translate the spatially continuous and cumulative influence
in floods at multiple spatial scales.
Results show a good ability to capture, in the higher susceptibility
classes, different flood types: fluvial floods and
flash floods. Lower values are usually related to mountainous
areas, low water accumulation potential and more permeable
soils. Validation with independent flood data sets
confirmed these index characteristics, although some overestimation
can be seen in the southern region of Alentejo
where, due to a dense hydrographic network and an overall
low slope, floods are not as frequent as a result of lower
precipitation mean values.
Future work will focus on (i) including extreme precipitation
data sets to represent the triggering factor, (ii) improving
representation of smaller and stepper basins, (iii) optimizing
variable weight definition process and (iii) developing more
robust independent flood validation data sets.
Description
Keywords
flood Susceptibility Index vulnerability index Continental Portuguese Territory
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Jacinto, R., Grosso, N., Reis, E., Dias, L., Santos, F. D., & Garrett, P. (2015). Continental Portuguese territory flood susceptibility index: contribution to a vulnerability index. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.,15(8), 1907-1919. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-15-1907-2015
Publisher
Copernicus Publications