A GIS Based Methodology to Obtain the Hydrological Response to Storm Events of Small Coastal Basins, Prone to Flash Flooding

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the hydrological response of small coastal watersheds to storm events. Areas around the Mediterranean Sea are usually characterized by streams with intermittent flows and flash floods are common. Firstly, we analyze the geomorphological, soil and land cover characteristics of the watershed in order to estimate their effect on surface runoff. Furthermore, the rainfall characteristics of an extreme event that caused flash flooding in the past are analyzed. By combining these factors, we are able to predict the response of this basin to severe storm events. The study area is located in the island of Samos, in Eastern Greece, where flash flood events are usual and pose a risk to areas located around rivers. In this area runoff is intermittent, occurring mainly during storm events and there is a lack of discharge or other instrumental measurements. By applying the SCS-CN method we estimate the response of two of the largest watersheds in Samos Island, through the construction of a Synthetic Unit Hydrograph (SUH). Firstly, we examined the record of historic floods in the area, selecting a large flash flood event (November 2001) and then obtained the daily rainfall data, which are used by the SCS method for the calculations. We applied the SCS methodology in order to estimate various parameters (e.g. lag time, time of concentration, maximum discharge), which also required the calculation of the Curve Number (CN) for each watershed. During this event (136 mm rainfall), we calculated a direct runoff (excess rainfall) of 44%-48% for these watersheds. This methodology can be particularly useful in simulating the hydrological response of small Mediterranean watersheds and to introduce better strategies for the management of the whole drainage basin.