Author(s): Chris Sweetapple; Anna Hastings; Peter Melville-Shreeve

Linked Author(s):

Keywords: Data driven; Flood Warning; Hydrometry; Smart Catchment; Water Level Sensing

Abstract: The UK’s leading municipal authority-led “smart-catchment” project (The Blue Heart Project) is presented and the progress from four hydrometrical devices in 2020 to over 500 sensing stations in 2024 is explored. The work illustrates the benefits of adopting an agile approach to sensor deployment and the need for partnership working to maximise the broad value of water level monitoring in urban settings. Analyses are presented for this leading high-density sensor deployment which reflect on high intensity rainfall events captured by 15 rain gauges in this urban area. Key outputs from the work include: links to a new public data repository; and analytical scripts to equip the local authority engineers to begin to evaluate flood events in the future. A key novelty presented is our initial evidence that uniform hyetographs, typically deployed in gold-standard modelling methods, are unlikely to offer strong representations of reality (i. e. rainfall during storms was empirically observed to be highly spatially and temporally variable, even within a small 61km2 study area). Further work will focus on opportunities to develop a flood warning system that utilises near real-time catchment knowledge provided by the sensor network.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64697/978-90-835589-7-4_41WC-P2106-cd

Year: 2025