Unit 5: Mapping the Impact of 100 and 500-year Floods

Venkatesh Merwade, Purdue University (vmerwade@purdue.edu)

James McNamara, Boise State University (jmcnamar@boisestate.edu)

Learn more »

These materials have been reviewed for their alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards as detailed below.

Overview

The unit serves as a summation of all previous units to develop a flood inundation extent for different geological areas of the United States. Streamflow data, flood frequency analysis, and hydraulic simulations are performed, and a written report summarises the comparison of flood inundation during three return periods.

Science and Engineering Practices

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking: Use mathematical, computational, and/or algorithmic representations of phenomena or design solutions to describe and/or support claims and/or explanations. HS-P5.2:

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking: Apply ratios, rates, percentages, and unit conversions in the context of complicated measurement problems involving quantities with derived or compound units (such as mg/mL, kg/m3, acre-feet, etc.). HS-P5.5:

Engaging in Argument from Evidence: Construct, use, and/or present an oral and written argument or counter-arguments based on data and evidence. HS-P7.4:

Developing and Using Models: Develop and/or use a model (including mathematical and computational) to generate data to support explanations, predict phenomena, analyze systems, and/or solve problems. HS-P2.6:

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions: Apply scientific reasoning, theory, and/or models to link evidence to the claims to assess the extent to which the reasoning and data support the explanation or conclusion. HS-P6.4:

Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Apply concepts of statistics and probability (including determining function fits to data, slope, intercept, and correlation coefficient for linear fits) to scientific and engineering questions and problems, using digital tools when feasible. HS-P4.2:

Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution. HS-P4.1:

Cross Cutting Concepts

Systems and System Models: When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined and their inputs and outputs analyzed and described using models. HS-C4.2:

Systems and System Models: Models can be used to predict the behavior of a system, but these predictions have limited precision and reliability due to the assumptions and approximations inherent in models. HS-C4.4:

Systems and System Models: Models (e.g., physical, mathematical, computer models) can be used to simulate systems and interactions—including energy, matter, and information flows—within and between systems at different scales. HS-C4.3:

Scale, Proportion and Quantity: The significance of a phenomenon is dependent on the scale, proportion, and quantity at which it occurs. HS-C3.1:

Patterns: Mathematical representations are needed to identify some patterns HS-C1.4:

Disciplinary Core Ideas

The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes: Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, and precipitation, as well as downhill flows on land. MS-ESS2.C1:

Performance Expectations

Earth's Systems: Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems. HS-ESS2-2:

Earth and Human Activity: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity. HS-ESS3-1:

This activity has been reviewed by 2 review processes

This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection

This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activity_review.html.
This material was developed and reviewed through the GETSI curricular materials development process. This rigorous, structured process includes:
- team-based development to ensure materials are appropriate across multiple educational settings.
- multiple iterative reviews and feedback cycles through the course of material development with input to the authoring team from both project editors and an external assessment team.
- real in-class or field camp/course testing of materials in multiple courses with external review of student assessment data.
- multiple reviews to ensure the materials meet the GETSI materials rubric which codifies best practices in curricular development, student assessment and pedagogic techniques.
- created or reviewed by content experts for accuracy of the science content.
Final review, editing, and approval by GETSI for this material is still pending.

This page first made public: Dec 5, 2019

Summary

Most often, we characterize floods based on their return periods. Considering new land developments and the changing climate, what was once a 100-year flood may change over time. Thus, if we are going to experience the previously defined 100-year flood more frequently, the new 100-year flood may be what was a 500-year flood before. One may then wonder what will be the impact of this 500-year flood compared to a 100-year flood? Is it five times bigger and more damaging than a 100-year flood? The goal of this Unit 5 is to let students quantify floods for 100 and 500 year return periods, and map the corresponding flood inundation extents. The students will then use these results to see how the flood magnitude and the inundation area changes for these floods. The final inundation maps can also be used to estimate key infrastructure that may be vulnerable.

This unit serves as the Summative Assessment for the module. Data sets are provided for students to apply concepts learned in prior units to a new scenario. As with Unit 4, this unit uses HEC-RAS. It can be done by students largely outside of class time.

Geodesy

Expand for more detail and links to related resources

Used this activity? Share your experiences and modifications

Learning Goals

Unit 5 Learning Outcomes

×

Damage from the 1910 flood of the Brazos River in Waco, Texas. In this unit, students will be able to calculate the return periods of floods along rivers such as the Brazos.
Provenance: Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/texascollectionbaylor/6144156207
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

This unit is intended to provide the summative assessment for the entire module. As such, students should demonstrate a mastery of the learning goals for the entire module. These include the following:

Describe flooding and its role as natural process versus hazard
Apply probability concepts to determine relationships between flow rates and return periods
Create flood inundation maps for a given flow rate using a hydraulic model
Translate flood occurrence to societal risk

Unit 5 Teaching Objectives

Affective: Provides students with the opportunity to understand and convert streamflow data into meaningful maps of flood inundation
Behavioral: Promotes students skills to use streamflow data, conduct flood frequency analysis and perform hydraulic simulations using HEC-RAS for mapping flood inundation extent
Cognitive: Facilitates students ability to interpret streamflow data for identifying historical floods

Context for Use

The content of Unit 5 is appropriate for advanced geoscience, earth science, civil engineering courses at the junior and/or senior level in which the basics of hydrology and hydraulics are taught. Some of the concepts in the unit are little advanced for a junior level class, so it is recommended to do it later in the course, when students have learned about open channel hydraulics and Manning's equation. Unit 5 is intended for use as a summative assessment for the entire Flood Hazard module and gives students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learned in Units 1-4 for creating a flood inundation map for a new river reach that has not been used in the earlier units. Most likely it would not be possible to use this unit without first also doing at least Unit 4: Hydraulic Modeling and Flood Inundation Mapping using HEC-RAS.

Description and Teaching Materials

As Unit 5 serves as the summative assessment for the entire Flood Hazard module, the teaching material mainly includes the data and the model that students will need to complete for this unit. There is no new instructional material for this unit, so students should be referred to material from Units 2-4 for completing this unit. Unit 5 can be assigned as an assignment outside of class. Little class time is needed other than to introduce the assignment (which can be done early in the module) and answer student questions as they arise.

HEC-RAS models for multiple reaches are provided here, and the instructor can pick one reach for Unit 5 or distribute different data sets to different students. A presentation is provided to give a brief overview of the reaches and the corresponding models. The student exercise does not specifically ask for exploring societal impacts by looking at any infrastructure data, but a KMZ file is provided for these sites if the instructor wishes to include this part in the exercise. Students can overlay the infrastructure KMZ file with the inundation map in Google Earth to explore the impact of 100- and 500-year inundation on existing infrastructure. If the instructor chooses to select another reach relevant to his/her geographic interest, it is important to make sure that there is a stream gauge at that reach for conducting the flood frequency analysis and that the HEC-RAS model for the reach is available/created for students to perform the hydraulic simulations.

The student exercise consists of the following four parts:

Obtaining streamflow data for a selected reach
Conducting flood frequency analysis to compute 100- and 500-year return period floods
Performing hydraulic simulations using HEC-RAS to create flood inundation maps for the three return period floods
Writing a brief report on their flood modeling analysis by comparing the flood inundation extents corresponding to the three return periods

Datasets

Data for Weiser River in Idaho (Zip Archive 51.4MB Sep17 20) - This zip folder contains the HEC-RAS project for Weiser River in Idaho.
Data for Brazos River in Texas (Zip Archive 168.1MB Nov10 18) - This zip folder contains the HEC-RAS project for Brazos River in Texas.
Data for St Joseph River in Indiana (Zip Archive 18.5MB Nov10 18) - This zip folder contains the HEC-RAS project for St. Joseph River in Indiana.
Data for Tippecanoe River in Indiana (Zip Archive 42.5MB Nov10 18) - This zip folder contains the HEC-RAS project for Tippecanoe River in Indiana.
Data for White River in Indiana (Zip Archive 120.1MB Nov10 18) - This zip folder contains the HEC-RAS project for White River in Indiana.
Infrastructure Data (Zip Archive 12kB Sep17 20) - This zip folder contains a Google Earth file with infrastructure information (hospitals, schools, etc) for the case study sites. It is very helpful for students making the final determination of vulnerabilities at the different sites.

Teaching Material

Unit 5 Study Area Descriptions (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 2.7MB Mar14 23)
- This file contains information related to each study reach for hydraulic modeling and flood inundation mapping.
Unit 5 Student Assignment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 205kB Mar14 23)
- This file contains the student exercise for this unit, including the template for the report.
Unit 5 Student Assignment Rubric (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 18kB Mar14 23)
- Students should also be given a copy of the rubric so they understand the grading criteria.

Teaching Notes and Tips

It is unlikely you would be using this unit without previously having completed at least Unit 4; so presumably HEC-RAS is already installed and functional. See Unit 4 for HEC-RAS guidance.
It can work well to let students know about the Unit 5 exercise at the beginning of the module. It can help students to focus on the value of the skills they are learning. You might even consider giving them the Unit 5 assignment early on. Some more advanced

Assessment

Unit 5 serves as the summative assessment for the flood hazard module.

Unit 5 Student Assignment Rubric (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 18kB Mar14 23)

References and Resources

HEC-RAS and other related tutorials by Venkatesh Merwade (Purdue University)

« Previous Page Next Page »

Unit 5: Mapping the Impact of 100 and 500-year Floods

Summary

Learning Goals

Unit 5 Teaching Objectives

Context for Use

Description and Teaching Materials

Datasets

Teaching Material

Teaching Notes and Tips

Assessment

References and Resources

About

Reuse

Page Text

Images

Provenance

Reuse

Files

Provenance

Reuse

Provenance

Reuse

Provenance

Reuse

Provenance

Reuse

Provenance

Reuse

Provenance

Reuse

Provenance

Reuse

Provenance

Reuse

Provenance

Reuse