Author(s): B. Bhattacharya
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Flood index; Flood characteristics; Haor; Bangladesh. 1
Abstract: The paper presents the characterisation of flooding in the Haor region in the north-east of Bangladesh. The region consists of a system of haors, each of which is a saucer-shaped depression and interconnected by a rivers system. A portion of the Haor area, known as the deeply flooded area, consisting of about 15 haors were chosen as the study area. A 1D2D model, with one-dimensional model for the rivers and a two-dimensional model for the haors were developed. Based on the simulation results the flood propagation within the model domain was studied corresponding to the 2004 flood and the characteristics of rivers with fast and slow responses to flood waves were identified. The hydrograph characteristics such as the rising curve gradient, flood magnitude ratio (with respect to the average discharge) and time to peak were assessed for different river floods. Using these characteristics an integrated flood index was developed. The flood index is an aggregated indicator based on the flood hydrograph characteristics and indicates the relative overall severity of a flood. The spatial and temporal variation of the index was investigated as well.
Year: 2013