The 24th IAHR-APD Congress (24th IAHR-APD Congress)

423 / 2024-03-15 18:04:31

Modeling Flow and Pollutant Transport in Urban Areas during Flood Disasters

Flood disaster,inundation flow,pollutant transport

Subtheme 1: Water-related Hazard and Risk Reduction > Topic 2: Simulation and Forecast of Water Hazard

Abstract: With the increasing frequency of flood disasters worldwide, secondary disasters triggered by flood disasters have gradually garnered attention. Among them, pollutant leakage incidents caused by floods have resulted in significant damage to urban environments and the safety of residents' lives, such as the 2002 European floods, and the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Therefore, it is necessary to study the trajectories of leaked pollutants in urban areas to mitigate the damage caused by secondary disasters.

  Although research on the transport of pollutants in natural rivers has been extensively conducted, there are still few studies on the transport of pollutants in urban inundation areas. In this research, the development and implementation of a two-dimensional, numerical pollutant transport model is delineated. Unstructured grids are employed to facilitate grid generation and localized refinement, providing clear boundaries for different land uses such as buildings, roads, and others. This allows for a more accurate assignment of the Manning coefficient, exchange coefficient, diffusion coefficient, and other attribute information to grids. It is then applied to model the distribution and transport of pollutants in Uji Campus, Kyoto University when urban inundation caused by the breach of the Uji river happened.

  The simulation results from the numerical simulations illustrate that the pollutant leakage in the Uji Campus of Kyoto University will have an impact on residential and agricultural areas in the south and west, particularly affecting elementary schools serving as emergency shelters. This research can provide reference information and early warnings for potential impact areas of pollutant leakage incidents caused by flood disasters.