Flood Exposure Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study for Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment
Floods are the most common and costliest natural disaster in Australia. However, the Flood Risk Assessments (FRAs) employed to manage them are hazard-focused and tend to overlook exposure and vulnerability. This leaves potential for Australian FRAs to make better use of a technique which holisticall...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Hydrology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/9/11/193 |
| _version_ | 1797468115233144832 |
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| author | Mark Ziegelaar Yuriy Kuleshov |
| author_facet | Mark Ziegelaar Yuriy Kuleshov |
| author_sort | Mark Ziegelaar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Floods are the most common and costliest natural disaster in Australia. However, the Flood Risk Assessments (FRAs) employed to manage them are hazard-focused and tend to overlook exposure and vulnerability. This leaves potential for Australian FRAs to make better use of a technique which holistically incorporates all three flood risk components. In this study, flood exposure assessment and mapping for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment (HNC), a flood-prone region in Australia, was conducted. Three flood exposure indicators—population density, land use type, and critical infrastructure density—were selected to derive the flood exposure index (FEI). Results demonstrated that Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s) on or near the floodplain, located near the eastern border of the HNC, are severely or extremely flood-exposed due to the significant presence of flood-exposed assets such as hospitals or police stations. The Wahroonga (West)—Waitara SA2 was the most exposed SA2 in the catchment (extreme exposure). This was followed by the Acacia Gardens, Glendenning—Dean Park, and Cambridge Park SA2s (all severely exposed). The Goulburn SA2 was also identified as severely flood-exposed even though it remains outside of the floodplain. This is due to its many exposed assets as Australia’s first inland town. All selected indicators were found to either strongly or moderately positively correlate with the FEI. Ultimately, this novel FEI can assist in the reduction of flood risk in the HNC, as well as foster community resilience strategies. Additionally, the developed scalable and replicable methodology can be applied to other flood-prone regions of Australia. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:02:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d02e298e61714793a8a82d6e0b9d8cd5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2306-5338 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:02:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hydrology |
| spelling | doaj.art-d02e298e61714793a8a82d6e0b9d8cd52023-11-24T04:53:38ZengMDPI AGHydrology2306-53382022-10-0191119310.3390/hydrology9110193Flood Exposure Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study for Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean CatchmentMark Ziegelaar0Yuriy Kuleshov1Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS), Science and Innovation Group, Bureau of Meteorology, 700 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3008, AustraliaClimate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS), Science and Innovation Group, Bureau of Meteorology, 700 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3008, AustraliaFloods are the most common and costliest natural disaster in Australia. However, the Flood Risk Assessments (FRAs) employed to manage them are hazard-focused and tend to overlook exposure and vulnerability. This leaves potential for Australian FRAs to make better use of a technique which holistically incorporates all three flood risk components. In this study, flood exposure assessment and mapping for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment (HNC), a flood-prone region in Australia, was conducted. Three flood exposure indicators—population density, land use type, and critical infrastructure density—were selected to derive the flood exposure index (FEI). Results demonstrated that Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s) on or near the floodplain, located near the eastern border of the HNC, are severely or extremely flood-exposed due to the significant presence of flood-exposed assets such as hospitals or police stations. The Wahroonga (West)—Waitara SA2 was the most exposed SA2 in the catchment (extreme exposure). This was followed by the Acacia Gardens, Glendenning—Dean Park, and Cambridge Park SA2s (all severely exposed). The Goulburn SA2 was also identified as severely flood-exposed even though it remains outside of the floodplain. This is due to its many exposed assets as Australia’s first inland town. All selected indicators were found to either strongly or moderately positively correlate with the FEI. Ultimately, this novel FEI can assist in the reduction of flood risk in the HNC, as well as foster community resilience strategies. Additionally, the developed scalable and replicable methodology can be applied to other flood-prone regions of Australia.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/9/11/193floodflood exposure assessment and mappingflood exposure indexHawkesbury-Nepean catchmentAustraliaflood risk assessments |
| spellingShingle | Mark Ziegelaar Yuriy Kuleshov Flood Exposure Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study for Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Hydrology flood flood exposure assessment and mapping flood exposure index Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment Australia flood risk assessments |
| title | Flood Exposure Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study for Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment |
| title_full | Flood Exposure Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study for Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment |
| title_fullStr | Flood Exposure Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study for Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Flood Exposure Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study for Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment |
| title_short | Flood Exposure Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study for Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment |
| title_sort | flood exposure assessment and mapping a case study for australia s hawkesbury nepean catchment |
| topic | flood flood exposure assessment and mapping flood exposure index Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment Australia flood risk assessments |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/9/11/193 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT markziegelaar floodexposureassessmentandmappingacasestudyforaustraliashawkesburynepeancatchment AT yuriykuleshov floodexposureassessmentandmappingacasestudyforaustraliashawkesburynepeancatchment |