| In countries where river improvements are not sufficient, smooth evacuation from floods is important for reducing loss of life and property. However the development of flood forecasting and warning systems in these countries has not advanced properly for various reasons such as financial difficulty and lack of rainfall data. The authors have developed a concise flood-run-off analysis system as a toolkit for more effective and efficient flood forecasting in developing countries. This system implements interfaces to input not only ground-based but satellite-based rainfall data, GIS functions to construct flood-run-off models, a default run-off analysis model, and interfaces to display output results. Major findings from the verification of this system for actual river basins in the world are as follows. First, most of the timings of peak flows simulated using satellite-based rainfall data and GIS-estimated parameters agree relatively well with the observed ones. Second, the verification indicates the possibility that satellite-based rainfall data, instead of ground-based data, can be used as input rainfall data to perform run-off analysis for flood forecasting in ungauged basins, although satellite data still need improvement in accuracy and delay time of delivery for operational use in the future. In consequences, satellite-based rainfall data and GIS-estimated parameters can be reliably used to conduct flood-run-off analysis in cases with insufficient hydrological and geophysical data. The authors hope that this system will be useful for the immediate and efficient implementation of flood forecasting and warning systems in developing countries. |
