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| Global Flood Awareness System | |
|---|---|
| Name | Global Flood Awareness System |
| Purpose | Early warning for riverine and flash floods |
| Developer | European Commission Joint Research Centre; European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts; United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction |
| Launched | 2011 |
| Country | International |
Global Flood Awareness System is an international early warning framework for large-scale riverine and flash flood forecasting that integrates hydrological models, meteorological forecasts, satellite observations, and decision-support tools. It provides downstream and transboundary information intended for humanitarian agencies, civil protection authorities, insurers, and research institutions, linking operational products with academic studies. The system evolved through collaborations among European institutions, United Nations bodies, national hydrological services, and private-sector partners to address cascading flood risks and climate-driven changes in flood frequency.
The system combines numerical weather prediction from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, ensemble forecasting approaches influenced by methods used in Met Office and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operations, global hydrological modeling inspired by work at University College London and ETH Zurich, and satellite remote sensing techniques developed at European Space Agency and NASA. Products include probabilistic flood maps, alerts compatible with United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs workflows, and situational awareness dashboards similar to systems used by Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and World Food Programme. Stakeholders include national agencies such as Federal Emergency Management Agency and Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe, international funders like World Bank and Asian Development Bank, and scientific networks including Global Flood Partnership and Group on Earth Observations.
Origins trace to post-2000 initiatives linking research from Joint Research Centre (European Commission) with operational forecasting advances following high-impact events like the 2002 European floods and 2010 Pakistan floods. Early pilots were coordinated with United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and lessons from Hurricane Katrina and Great Flood of 1993 influenced design priorities for transboundary forecasting. Partnerships expanded through memoranda with European Space Agency missions such as Sentinel (satellite constellation) and research funding from instruments like Horizon 2020 and the European Research Council. Technical maturation occurred alongside institutional adoption by entities such as United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and integration with national systems exemplified by collaborations with India Meteorological Department and China Meteorological Administration.
The architecture is modular: global meteorological forcing (ensembles) from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and comparable providers; large-scale hydrodynamic routing modules developed in academic centers like University of Bristol and Delft University of Technology; satellite-based inundation detection from Copernicus Programme assets; and user interfaces modeled on decision-support tools used by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Components include high-resolution digital elevation models influenced by NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, land-cover data derived from MODIS and Landsat, and river network schematizations similar to datasets from HydroSHEDS and Global Runoff Data Centre. Computational infrastructure often leverages cloud platforms used by Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform and high-performance clusters associated with CINECA and PRACE.
Hydrometeorological inputs draw from reanalyses like ERA5 and satellite precipitation products from Global Precipitation Measurement. River discharge observations are ingested where available from national services such as US Geological Survey and international archives like Global Runoff Data Centre. Hydrological models implemented include distributed and conceptual frameworks developed at Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique and University of Washington, while hydraulic inundation modeling employs solvers influenced by research at University of Iowa and Imperial College London. Ensemble techniques follow methodologies established in studies from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and Met Éireann. Data assimilation strategies incorporate satellite altimetry from missions like Jason (satellite) and soil moisture retrievals from SMOS and SMAP.
Operational outputs support humanitarian preparedness in contexts such as flood response coordination by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and contingency planning for International Committee of the Red Cross. Insurers and reinsurance companies including Munich Re and Swiss Re use probabilistic flood estimates to inform exposure models. Urban planners and infrastructure agencies referencing studies from World Bank and Asian Development Bank utilize scenario outputs for resilience investments. Academic and NGO users from Oxford University and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis apply forecasts to research on compound hazards and food security impacts measured by Food and Agriculture Organization.
Governance is multi-institutional: stewardship by the European Commission Joint Research Centre, operational linkages with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and coordination with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Partnerships extend to national meteorological and hydrological services including Met Office, Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (Argentina), and Bureau of Meteorology (Australia), satellite agencies such as European Space Agency and NASA, and international research consortia like Global Flood Partnership and Group on Earth Observations. Funding and policy alignment have involved European Parliament initiatives, bilateral aid agencies such as United States Agency for International Development, and philanthropic organizations including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Impact assessments cite contributions to earlier warnings during events comparable to the 2013 European floods and 2015 South Indian floods, while independent evaluations by organizations like United Nations University and OECD note improved lead times and situational awareness. Criticisms focus on data sparsity in regions monitored by agencies less integrated into the system (for example parts of Sub-Saharan Africa), challenges in downscaling to local urban contexts referenced in studies from World Resources Institute, and issues of institutional uptake highlighted by research at London School of Economics. Debates continue regarding reliance on ensemble forecasts produced by European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts versus national numerical weather prediction tailored by services like Japan Meteorological Agency and the need for stronger linkages with local civil protection authorities and community-based organizations.
Category:Flood control