PAST RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Flood Hydrology Program
Program Leader: Prof Russell Mein,
Monash University
Core Projects
Publications
A complete list of publications and videos from this program
is available here.
Aim
To improve hydrologic theory so that its application will
produce more reliable design flood estimates and real-time
flood forecasts for practitioners.
Background
The CRC established its Flood Hydrology Program in 1993
to eliminate critical gaps in flood hydrology theory and
practice, with the aim of improving the accuracy and effectiveness
of flood forecasting and design-flood estimation in Australia.
This has been achieved through a range of outcomes to
date, including:
- more accurate design data for rainfall losses in
southeastern Australia, and a proven methodology for
use in other regions (Project D1)
- new regional approaches to flood frequency analysis
and baseflow, with benefits for practitioners dealing
with ungauged catchments (Project D2)
- a more reliable procedure (CRC-FORGE) for estimating
extreme rainfalls used in spillway adequacy assessment;
the procedure has been adopted in five States (Project
D3)
- a simple error-correction procedure to improve the
accuracy of flood forecasts (Project D4)
- a holistic approach to design flood estimation that
takes into account the joint probabilities of the
component processes (Project FL1)
- a new storm-rainfall model designed to simulate
the variability of storms in space and time (Project
FL2)
- a more accurate technique for determining stream-rating
curves using hydraulic modelling programs (Project
FL3)
A major avenue of technology transfer is Australian
Rainfall and Runoff (ARR), a standard reference used
in Australian flood estimation practice. The current
edition (ARR87) is being revised, chapter by chapter,
by a team of experts that includes CRC researchers.
The revised Chapter 13 incorporates the results of the
work on CRC-FORGE, new areal reduction factors, and
loss modelling. It was published as the first of a serial
publication (ARR: Book VI).
Program highlights towards the end of the research
program included the development of a methodology for
translating the hydrologic responses of hillslopes from
gauged to ungauged catchments. The CRC pioneered a ‘similarity’
approach to hillslope shape, which has led to the development
of a new hillslope attribute – the upslope ‘effective
area’ contributing to the saturated area. This
can be applied to evaluating the impact of tree belts
on water yield, or of wastewater disposal on land.
Another highlight was the CRC Scaling Workshop held
at the Bureau of Meteorology in June 1999. Researchers
from across Australia discussed issues such as how to
extrapolate point observations to an area or catchment,
and how to account for spatial and time-related variability.
The aim was to identify ways of eliminating a major
source of error in hydrological models – the use
of average rainfall data. The CRC developed new techniques
based on remote sensing (radar and satellite) that take
into account the spatial and temporal variability of
rainfall (Project FL2).
Work on transferring the CRC-FORGE procedure to water
and dam management agencies in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania,
Queensland, and South Australia still continues. CRC-FORGE
enables practitioners to more accurately estimate the
extreme design rainfalls (with annual exceedance probabilities
as low as 1 in 2000) used in assessing spillway adequacy.
The procedure will lead to significant cost-savings
in spillway upgrades.
|
