Engineering Papers⌕ Search
Home/Archive/DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI · 1086768

Rainfall-driven Flooding Capability Development Report

Judi, David R.·Tasseff, Byron A.
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Globally, floods are among the most frequent and costly natural disasters, both socially and economically. Many of these floods result from excess rainfall collecting in streams and rivers, then overtopping banks and flowing overland into urban environments, damaging critical infrastructure. In Fiscal Year 2012, the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center’s (NISAC) goal was to enhance its existing flood modeling and simulation capability to be able to estimate flooding from rainfall-runoff events. To accomplish this task, NISAC modified the existing flood modeling code-base using commodity high-performance computing hardware, making it more suitable for regional rainfall events. NISAC also implemented new modules within the existing flood code to account for hydrologic processes, such as spatially variable rainfall and infiltration. Analysts subjected the new hydrologic model to a verification and validation process, wherein analysts evaluated the model using a bench-scale experiment and watershed scale rainfall-runoff events. The bench-scale experiment indicated that the new hydrologic model is mass and momentum conserving and can adequately simulate runoff for depths of inches of water. The watershed scale simulations indicated that the hydrologic model is a good predictor of the discharge hydrograph when compared to observations if the input parameters, such as roughness and hydraulic conductivity, are adequately calibrated. The intended use of the hydrologic model is to estimate flood potential during extreme rainfall events. The accuracy of the predictions is largely dependent on the availability of accurate spatial data for soil and roughness parameters. In addition, each simulation should be accompanied with a calibration exercise, which requires historical rainfall and river discharge observations.

Explore related subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY42 ENGINEERING99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Judi, David R., Tasseff, Byron A.. 2013-03-01. Rainfall-driven Flooding Capability Development Report. https://doi.org/10.2172/1086768

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related reports

DOE OSTI2026

Validation of the NLR Pumped Storage Hydropower Cost Model

The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) first released its pumped storage hydropower (PSH) cost model in 2023 as the most detailed bottom-up PSH cost model available to the public. It is available both as a spreadsheet and an interactive web tool, enabling users with a variety of PSH interests to transparently characterize costs of alternative PSH sites and designs. The PSH cost model cannot replace detailed site-level studies and design, but it is important to validate it against other industry PSH cost estimates. The initial model methodology report validated the cost model for a single proposed site, the Eagle Mountain Project in California. This slide deck documents an expanded validation exercise using cost data from six other sites: Goldendale (Washington), Seminoe (Wyoming), Gordon Butte (Montana), Swan Lake (Oregon), White Pine (Oregon), and Lewis Ridge (Kentucky). It compares itemized costs from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) applications and other reported costs with NLR PSH cost model outputs after customizing inputs for each site. The validation exercise finds that the NLR model's conservative indirect cost assumptions often drive overall cost overestimation, with direct cost comparisons typically agreeing more closely. All cost model estimates are well within an Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) Class 5 estimation range (-50% to +100%), with five within the AACE Class 4 range (-30% to +50%) and four being within 15%. This result is considered reasonable performance for a parametric model applied at a preliminary design stage.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Pumped Storage Hydropower Operation & Maintenance Cost Estimation

The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) develops and hosts a pumped storage hydropower (PSH) cost model that is the most detailed bottom-up PSH cost model available to the public. It is available both as a spreadsheet and an interactive web tool, enabling users with a variety of PSH interests to transparently characterize costs of alternative PSH sites and designs. The NLR PSH cost model was designed originally to consider only upfront capital costs only. This slide deck describes methodology to expand the cost model to include operations and maintenance (OM) costs. OM costs are characterized as five distinct components with unique sources and methods for cost estimation. By combining methods for each of these components into a cumulative OM cost estimate, these methods allow a more complete estimation of total OM costs that agrees with existing literature values. The methods are scalable and transparent, allowing them to be readily to applied to any prospective PSH facility for a representative preliminary OM cost estimate in advance of detailed site-specific engineering and other studies.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Staying Current: A Community Readiness Framework for Marine Energy Applied to River Current Energy in Alaska

Marine energy-including wave, tidal, and river current energy-can provide a local energy source for rural and remote communities. Marine energy has the potential to bolster self-sufficiency and create economic opportunities while preserving ecological integrity. Communities may be interested in deploying, testing, and advancing these early-stage technologies to meet their needs. However, limited capacity, workforce constraints, and other barriers can challenge development. To better understand a community's interest in and preparedness for marine energy, we developed a suite of 150 'metrics of readiness.' Organized across seven categories-technical, social, environmental, strategic, governance, economic, financial-and 29 subcategories, the metrics provide a holistic perspective beyond the technical aspects of an energy device. We conducted a desktop application of the metrics of readiness for Igiugig, Alaska. The metrics were applied retrospectively for two points in time: before (2009) and after (2018) in-stream testing of a river current energy device. By documenting changes among categories and subcategories of the metrics, our results show the evolving nature of community readiness for river current energy. They also illustrate how our interdisciplinary framework captures the investment in environmental effects research and commitment to strategic planning that occurred in Igiugig. In future applications, we envision the framework could be used to foster public engagement in marine energy, collaborate with communities in project development, shape capacity building activities, prioritize investments, and inform research needs. While our study focuses on enabling river current energy in Alaska, the metrics of readiness have the potential to inform implementation of other renewable technologies with communities in new geographies.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗