Author(s): Miriam Monschein; Gerald Krebs; Gerald Zenz; Josef Schneider

Linked Author(s): Gerald Zenz, Josef Schneider

Keywords: Pluvial flooding; Rain simulator; Adjustable drop size; Various precipitation intensities; Areal water retention

Abstract: Studies show an 80 mm/a increase in evapotranspiration and annual precipitation over the past three decades. This has led to more intense precipitation events and a higher risk of pluvial flooding. Agriculture covers 32% of Austria's land, making it crucial to strengthen natural water retention in agriculture land to mitigate flood events as part of a sustainable climate adaptation strategy. However, the quantification of potential retention improvements is uncertain. The current laboratory analyses focus on point measurements that cannot account for the heterogeneity of agricultural land, and the in-situ analyses differ due to the different boundary conditions. To address this issue, this study aims to develop and calibrate a rain simulator to model different precipitation events in the laboratory. The purpose of the rain simulator is to investigate the effects of different water retention measures on various types of land covers, contributing to sustainable climate adaptation strategies in agriculture as well as in urban areas. The rain simulator allows precise control of drop size, intensity, and terminal velocity, while uniformly irrigating large-scale soil samples. This is achieved by a two-phase system of water and air pressure, which enables exact adjustment of the parameters without the need to change nozzles. To calibrate the simulator, videos of the generated drops were recorded and analysed using a tailored Python script.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/978-90-833476-1-5_iahr40wc-p0891-cd

Year: 2023