Modeling Storm Sewer Networks and Urban Flooding in Roanoke, Virginia, with SWMM and GSSHA
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 1
Abstract
Modeling urban flooding is challenging because of complex spatial variations and interactions between precipitation, land cover, and drainage networks. This paper presents a case study of the development of two hydrology and hydraulics models—the semidistributed storm water management model (SWMM) and the fully distributed gridded surface/subsurface hydrologic analysis (GSSHA) model—to simulate the hydrologic response of two neighboring urban watersheds with large storm sewer networks in the city of Roanoke, Virginia. Both models were calibrated and validated for the two watersheds based on nine events (May–October 2018), and the models were assessed on their ability to replicate measured stream discharge and storm sewer flow depths. The findings from the study indicate that both models reasonably capture the observed hydrologic responses but that each model offers unique benefits. Overall, SWMM’s value to the city is its ability to provide detailed information regarding the hydraulic conditions within the city’s storm sewer network, whereas GSSHA’s value to the city is its ability to predict the duration and spatial extent of flooding in two dimensions.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request (SWMM R calibration code, SWMM R precipitation IDW interpolation code).
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the City of Roanoke, Virginia (VT Fund No. 466187) and the Virginia Tech Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Special thanks to the City of Roanoke Stormwater Division for their helpful feedback and valuable insights throughout the development and evaluation of the watershed models.
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Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 1 • January 2021
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 8, 2019
Accepted: Jul 15, 2020
Published online: Oct 30, 2020
Published in print: Jan 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Mar 30, 2021
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