Effects of return periods on flood hazard mapping: an analysis of the UFSC Campus Basin, Florianópolis city, Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT The development of urban areas exacerbates flood risk by increasing both runoff and the exposure of population and infrastructure. In this study, we highlight the importance of return period choice on flood hazard degree and flood hydraulics characteristics. We use the UFSC campus basin as a test bed and combine a hydrological and a hydrodynamic model to define the flood hazard intensity and flood hazard degree. Six hazard intensity maps were elaborated using different return periods (2, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500-years) that characterize low and high recurrence scenarios. The low recurrence hazard map can be ideal to verify hazard effects on buildings, while the high recurrence hazard map helps to identify people security. All variables related to the rainfall effect and its consequences (e.g. rainfall intensity, flood mean velocity, and total flood area) follow a logarithmic relationship, with a small variation for higher return periods. We highlight how different return periods can influence flood hydraulics and flood hazard and should therefore be considered in flood hazard mapping.

Keywords

• Flood hazard degree
• Synthetic hyetograph
• Return period