Response of the flood peak to the spatial distribution of rainfall in the Yom River basin,Thailand

The response of the flood peak to the spatial distribution of rainfall has been reported in basins with nonuniform characteristics. However, prioritization of the influences of these characteristics is still poorly understood. This study evaluated the variability in the flood peak with the spatial distribution of rainfall at Sukhothai (city) in the Yom River basin, Thailand, and investigated the influence of the basin characteristics on the flood peak. For each of the 2-, 5- and 10-y rainfalls with durations of 24, 48 and 72 h, 1000 simulated rainfall events with various spatial distributions were generated according to the observed data by using a Monte Carlo analysis and Cholesky randomization. The floods from these rainfalls were then simulated, and the peak discharges were evaluated. The flood peaks from 24-h rainfalls were usually small but highly variable and could be extremely large when the rainfalls were concentrated over the mountainous region. The flood peaks from 48 to 72-h rainfalls were consistently large and correlated with the rainfalls over the joint area between the mountainous region and plain area. The basin characteristics that influenced the response of the flood peak to the spatial distribution of the rainfall appeared to depend on the rainfall duration and magnitude. For short-duration rainfalls, the response was mainly influenced by the surface storage when the rainfall was small and by the terrain steepness when the rainfall was large. For long-duration rainfalls, the response was mainly influenced by the soil percolation rate.     

Determination of rainfall data for direct runoff prediction in monsoon region: a case study in the Upper Yom basin,Thailand

Natural Hazards - In a monsoon region, flooding is usually caused by heavy rainfall events in conjunction with saturated soil. A hydrograph in the wet season consists of multiple flood waves from...     

Flood mitigation due to extreme rainfall events in the inner Bangkok,Thailand

In the past decades, the influence of climate change has caused changes in the amount of rainfall in many areas which may affect the flood assessment and mitigation. This research aims to determine amount of rainfall which impacts on changes of the water levels in canals and evaluate the appropriate mitigation measures for floods in the inner Bangkok area, Bangkok Noi and Bangkok Yai districts of Bangkok. The maximum 1-day rainfall during 1997–2010 was determined under different return periods of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 year. The MIKE 11 model was then applied to assess changes of the water levels in canals caused by design rainfall events for those return periods. The flood mitigation was also proposed by applying various pumping capacities and initial water levels, incorporating with building dykes and a floodgate. This study has found that the highest flood-risk areas are along Chak Phra and Bangkhunnon canals and the eastern part of Jakthong Canal while the lowest flood-risk area is Bangkok Yai district. Flood caused from the 10-year rainfall can be mitigated by building dykes with the height of 0.75 m [mean sea level (MSL)] and maintaining the initial water level of 0.70 m (MSL). Furthermore, it has also been found that flood caused from the 25-year rainfall can be mitigated by building the floodgate to prevent the flowing back water at Wat Yangsuttharam Canal. However, 50- and 100-year rainfalls seem to cause floods which are too large to mitigate.