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Advanced observation and rainfall prediction for urban pluvial flood management (RAINGAIN)
Start date: Mar 31, 2010, End date: Aug 29, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The projects aim is to obtain fine-scale rainfall and flood data at the urban scale: a level of detail at which such information is currently lacking. The availability of fine-scale rainfall and flood data will enable urban water authorities to adequately cope with peak rainfall and will help to prevent the severe pluvial flood damage that in the past decades has been associated with these events. Rainfall radars are the only measuring devices that provide space-time estimates of rainfall that can be used for this purpose. This technique has only recently been developed to become sufficiently detailed to be applicable to the scale of urban areas. This innovative technique will be brought to implementation in water management practice at pilot locations in the partner countries. The installation of new radars for fine-scale rainfall measurement at pilot locations in Rotterdam and the Paris Region is foreseen as part of the RainGain project; a similar technique has been installed in Leuven several years before. In the UK. a novel. superresolution protocol will be applied to obtain detailed rainfall data from the C-band radar of the MetOffice. The fine-scale rainfall data will provide urban water managers with detailed peak rainfall information at temporal and spatial scales appropriate to the fastness of urban run-off processes. The information will be applied in in flood prediction models at pilot locations in the four participating countries to identify flood-prone locations and develop effective solutions for better flood protection such as early warning systems and optimised. real-time storage basin operation. These will in their turn be tested based on the detailed rainfall data and flood models. The end users of the rainfall equipment. data and models will be trained so they will be able to take over the project deliverables and to resume responsibility in operation and management. Achievements: The aim of RainGain is to obtain detailed rainfall and flooding information in cities to improve resilience of urban populations and critical infrastructure. Different types of radars are installed and in 4 cities (Leuven, London, Paris, Rotterdam) for this purpose and different types of flood models are implemented. Through transnational cooperation local authorities learn about the pros and cons of different approaches in achieving urban flood protection. In 2013, a Local Authorities meeting was organised by the local partners in RainGain where a variety of city representatives from inside and outside the project shared and discussed experiences with radars and flood protection. Radars are operational in Leuven and London and new, state-of-the-art radars are under construction in Paris and Rotterdam. A review document on rainfall estimation was prepared in a shared effort by the RainGain partners, with additional contributions from external experts. Flood models have been set up in all 4 cities and a direct, transnational comparison between the models was made. RainGain partners summarised the results in a joint paper that was presented at a key international conference in 2014. Results are also disseminated to non-technical stakeholders through the National Observer Groups, RainGain website and educational platform.

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Details

  • 50%   3 605 062,13
  • 2007 - 2013 North West Europe
  • Project on KEEP Platform
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12 Partners Participants