International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—Floods are natural disasters that can be difficult to predict, as there are no obvious time or location factors. This study aims to improve flood-forecasting models in order to analyze rainfall discharge and to investigate the threshold values for conveying alert messages. Improvements of the operation of existing software-based resources are made by providing a simple interface on a Web-based system that conducts the analysis by eliminating redundant steps from the computation procedure and making it available beyond a stand-alone operation. Topography, rainfall, soil and land cover are main factors for a flood-forecasting model. Among them, rainfall is considered a driving factor with spatial-temporal aspects. Hydrological data such as Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) acquired through Internet communication is used to analyze rainfall discharge and informative flood analysis as a near real-time data source. The rainfall discharge distribution in the Wangthong watershed is proposed as an example of the worldwide use of TRMM data. The TRMM satellite is proving its worth regarding precipitation data, particularly for those areas where rainfall measuring is not practical. An integrated geospatial Web-based system is established to facilitate public awareness by allocating information in a timely manner without the need for cumbersome software installation.

Index Terms—Flood, rainfall-runoff, monitoring system, warning system, spatial data infrastructure.

P. Limlahapun with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the International Digital Earth Applied Science Research Center, Chubu University, 12000 Matsumoto-cho, Kasugai, Aichi, Japan (e-mail: thip.limlahapun@gmail.com).
H. Fukui with the International Digital Earth Applied Science Research Center, Chubu University, 12000 Matsumoto-cho, Kasugai, Aichi, Japan (e-mail: fukui@isc.chubu.ac.jp).

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Cite: P. Limlahapun and H. Fukui, "Toward a Web-Integrated Solution for Flood Observations," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 134-139, 2016.