The Science & Technology behind the Iowa Flood Center

Abstract: The Iowa Flood Center created at the University of Iowa in response to the devastating flood of 2008, has developed several products and services for the people of the state. These include a large network of bridge-mounted stream stage monitoring sensors, state-wide flood inundation maps, a real-time streamflow forecasting system, and the innovative web-based Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS). The author will discuss the scientific research and technological developments that enabled the above products and systems. In particular, he will discuss the technical design considerations of the bridge sensors, the workflow of creating a large set of inundation maps, and the components of the rainfallrunoff model that is at the core of the streamflow forecasting system. These components are the radar-rainfall estimation methods and the terrain decomposition into hillslopes and links of the river network. Finally, the presentation will include a discussion of the conceptual design of the IFIS that communicates flood-relevant information to the general public as well as the state and federal agencies.