78-A Hydrologic Flood Forecasting System for Mesoamerica.

Abstract

Frequent flooding is a common occurrence in the Mesoamerica region, causing both death and destruction. With a flood forecasting system in place, the safety and security of both people and property in this region can be greatly improved. A Hydrologic Flood Forecasting System (HFFS) is developed for Mesoamerica. HFFS couples meteorological and hydrological models and creates flood inundation web-maps. Due to the poor availability of observed data in the region, the precipitation data are derived from satellite images, and combined with additiOnal GIS data to determine watershed characteristics, such as land use distribution. A multivariate analysis of key variables is used to group the watersheds and delineate regions of similar hydro-meteorological performance. The obtained regionalization allows the use of regional parameters in the ungauged watersheds. The distinctiveness of HFFS is its applicability not only in the Mesoamerica region, but also in other flood-prone areas in the world with limited access to relevant data.