Flood Forecasting Using Artificial Neural Networks

This work examines the use of advance warning models to predict flooding and flood damage. Specifically, it includes an examination of the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) rainfall-runoff model, its suitability, uses and limitations.

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Flood disasters continue to occur in many countries in the world and cause tremendous casualties and property damage. To mitigate the effects of floods, a range of structural and non-structural measures have been employed including dykes, channelling, flood-proofing property, land-use regulation and flood warning schemes. Such schemes can include the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for modelling the rainfall run-off process as it is a quick and flexible approach which gives very promising results. However, the inability of ANN to extrapolate beyond the limits of the training range is a serious limitation of the method, and this book examines ways of side-stepping or solving this complex issue.