Abstract Floodplain Visualization on TINs
By Esteban Azagra, M.S.E., David R. Maidment and Francisco Olivera
ABSTRACT
For more than thirty years, computer models have
been used as essential tools for floodplain determination. Although
the combined use of hydrologic and hydraulic models has significantly
increased the ability to predict flooding events, the amount of fieldwork
required to create and calibrate a model is still considerable. This
document presents a methodology that uses aerial mapping as a basis
for creating floodplain maps when using the HEC River Analysis System
(HEC-RAS) hydraulic model for floodplain analyses. The approach is based
on the use of triangular irregular networks (TINs) within a geographic
information system (GIS) environment.
This methodology was applied to the Waller Creek
watershed in Austin, Texas, and involved three phases. First, flow data
required by HEC-RAS were determined using the GIS-based application
CRWR-PrePro and the hydrologic model HEC Hydrologic Modeling System
(HEC-HMS). During the second phase, tools were developed for embedding
structures, such as buildings, into the TIN. Finally, the ArcView GIS
extension AVRas was used to extract the information contained in the
TIN, export it into HEC-RAS, read the results of the hydraulic model
and represent the flooded areas. Two and three dimensional animations
were developed to show the visualization capabilities offered by GIS.
Both, the comparison of the geometric data extracted from a digital
representation of the terrain with field data, and the resulting model,
show that TINs can be successfully used for floodplain determination
and representation purposes.
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