Visk: a Gis-Compatible Platform for Micro-Scale Assessment of Flooding Risk in Urban Areas

Abstract eng:
Evaluation of the vulnerability of buildings in urban areas to flooding is a fundamental step in flooding risk mitigation. In this work, a new GIS-compatible computer platform with Matlab®-based graphical user interface is presented: VISK, "Visual Vulnerability & Risk", flooding module. This platform performs detailed (micro-scale) flood risk assessment for building stock with more-or-less similar characteristics. The GIS compatibility allows for graphical processing of both input and output to the program, providing an efficient visualization of flooding risk. At the core of the platform lies a comprehensive probability-based algorithm for the assessment of the vulnerability of a class of buildings to flooding. This Bayesian algorithm is based on assigning prescribed analytic uni- and bi-modal probability distributions for characterizing the flooding structural fragility functions. This allows for efficient evaluation of structural fragility based on a small number of (around 30-50) Monte Carlo simulations. The fragility calculations are performed on a bi-dimensional finite-element structural model considering the openings (door and windows) constructed using open-source software Opensees. The uncertain structural modeling parameters are characterized through, orthophoto recognition, sample in-situ building survey, laboratory test results for material mechanical properties and literature survey. Finally, the risk map is generated by integrating the flooding hazard and fragility taking into account additional information on the exposure (e.g., repair costs, population density, etc.). The results can be visualized both in a detailed building-to-building scale (of potential interest to single house-holds) or as overall estimates for the entire area (of interest to policy makers).

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