Flash Flood Warnings
CI-FLOW (Coastal and Inland Flooding Observation and Warning)
Flash floods are rapid increases of water in streams and creeks, typically in response to intense rainfall events, that pose significant hazards to motorists, recreationalists, and infrastructure worldwide. The small space-time scales associated with flash floods have made it challenging to predict the precise locations of impending rainfall and resultant impacts.
The Flooded Locations And Simulated Hydrographs Project (FLASH) was launched in early 2012 largely in response to the demonstration and real-time availability of high-resolution, accurate rainfall observations from the NMQ/Q2 projec).The primary goal of the FLASH project is to improve the accuracy, timing, and specificity of flash flood warnings in the US, thus saving lives and protecting infrastructure. The FLASH team is comprised of researchers and students who use an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to achieve the goal.
FLASH (Flooded Locations And Simulated Hydrographs Project)
The Coastal and Inland Flooding Observation and Warning (CI-FLOW) Project consortium is working with NCSU to couple their existing estuary model, watershed water quality model, and an estuary water quality model to the NSSL multi-sensor precipitation estimation system and NWS distribution hydrologic model. The resulting CI-FLOW demonstration program will facilitate the evaluation and testing of new technologies and techniques to produce accurate and timely identification of coastal, estuary and inland floods, flash floods and their impacts on the coastal ecosystem.
Project CI-FLOW is focused on the Tar-Pamlico River Basin in North Carolina.
NSSL-IHR (China) Scientific Exchange Program
Beginning in 2004, the NSSL’s HydroMet Research Group in collaboration with the Institute of Heavy Rain of the China Meteorological Administration established a scientific exchange program focusing on radar applications in quantitative precipitation estimation and forecast (QPE/F) towards improving the accuracy of flood and flash flood warnings. The program includes the exchange of visiting scientists, joint scientific workshops, and academic lectures. Through this exchange, scientists from both the USA and China have gained a better understanding of ongoing efforts in the two countries to address the scientific and operational challenges of flood warnings and water resource management. The collaboration also facilitated scientific contributions in the development and refinement of the National Mosaic and QPE system.
NSSL-CWB (Taiwan) High-Resolutions QPE and QPF (HRQ2) System
BNSSL and NOAA's Forecast Systems Laboratory (now ESRL) collaborated with the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) and Water Resources Agency (WRA) of Taiwan to develop a High-Resolution QPE and QPF (HRQ2) system for Taiwan. The two agencies were working to improve Taiwan's capabilities to issue flash flood and flood warnings and improve river and reservoir water management.
The HRQ2 system includes 5 components: 1) Radar data quality control; 2) 3-D radar mosaic; 3) Severe weather products; 3) QPE; 4) QPF; and 5) Product visualization and evaluation. The QPF component is a joint effort between the NSSL and the ERSL where an extrapolation scheme developed by the NSSL produces QPF in the time frame of 0-3hr and a hot-start NWP model developed by the ERSL provides QPF out to 24hr. The first 4-year plan (2002-2005) has been successfully completed and the HRQ2 system has been running in real-time at the CWB as well as more then ten other government agencies in support of their severe weather and floods/flash floods warnings, water resource management, soil conservations and other weather related decisions.
In 2006, NSSL and ERSL have started a new 4-year plan with the CWB and WRA of Taiwan to continue the development and enhancements of the HRQ2 system.
