Interactive Simulation and Visualisation of Realistic Flooding Scenarios

Floods are a permanent threat for urban environments and coastal regions. Due to the numerous environmental and climatological factors that cause floods, their prevention and prediction is complicated. Flood protection and prevention plans are assessed by computational models. The related risk analysis communication demands simulations of accurate inundation models and their interactive visualisation. In our new Dutch Knowledge for Climate project we work closely together with industrial partners with whom we develop a platform that supports this communication. Our research focuses on real-time flow simulations, their interactive visualisation and steering techniques for flooding scenarios. Our goal is an interactive, realistic problem-solving environment for flooding discussions amongst decision makers, water boards, hydrologists and the general public. Most important in this research are sophisticated algorithms that promote this goal. Related work in the field is done on small-scale examples and abstract computational models. We work on large-scale, high-resolution, realistic computations while maintaining interactivity. For this we use aerial terrain LiDAR point clouds of The Netherlands and most recent, complex Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models. The rendering system will apply a combination of new point cloud compression algorithms and spatial Level-of-Detail data structures. Fast CFD simulations will be achieved by subgridding and parallel processing of non-linear calculation models. Additionally, the integration of various geo-information (i.e. precipitation) is key to educated flooding decision-making. In this paper we describe in detail our project goals, our current progress and upcoming related research tracks.

@InBook { KH12,
  author       = "Kehl, Christian and Haan, Gerwin de",
  title        = "Interactive Simulation and Visualisation of Realistic Flooding Scenarios",
  chapter      = "1",
  series       = "Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography",
  pages        = "79--96",
  month        = "dec",
  year         = "2012",
  publisher    = "Springer",
  url          = "http://graphics.tudelft.nl/Publications-new/2012/KH12"
}