MATH - Flood Forecasting

Client

UK Environment Agency

Project description:

MATH was developed for the UK Environment Agency, to support research into flood forecasting in rivers. Every river catchment area behaves differently in how it channels rainfall into rivers: steep terrain encourages rapid runoff, causing high peaks of river flow and risk of flash floods. Shallow slopes, fractured geology or woodland will tend to absorb water to a greater extent, buffering the effects of peak rainfall and creating a gradual rise and fall of river levels.

MATH analyses model files describing rainfall and river rates over a few hours or days at a chosen location. It then helps compare hydrological models to see how well they predict river behaviour, based on past measurements. Processes are run in real-time.

Users can vary model parameters using sliders or check boxes, and get instant visual feedback on the behaviour of the complex mathematical models.