Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

S. Matreata, O. Baciu, D. Apostu and M. Matreata:

Evaluation of the Romanian flash flood forecasting system – case study in the Calnau river basin

Summary

The paper describes the new Romanian hydrological and flood forecasting system and presents a test of its component called Flash Flood Guidance System used in the flash flood forecasting. Performance of the Flash Flood Guidance System was evaluated for the flash flood that occurred in the Calnau river basin on 24 and 25 July 2011. The forecasting system correctly indicated spatial and temporal distributions of the rainfall which caused the flash flood. The Flash Flood Guidance System generated products (soil moisture map, estimated recorded rainfalls and guidance values for durations 1, 3 and 6 hours) that allowed issuing correct flash flood warning. Real-time data processing and distributed hydrological modeling provided a hydrograph that was reasonably comparable with measured data. Although further testing in more basins is necessary, the system is a promising tool in improved flash flood forecasting for Romania. Key words: Flash flood forecasting system, small basin, flash flood.