Advanced tools for pro-active Management of Impact and Risks induced by convective Weather, Heavy Rain and Flash Foods in Europe
ACRONYM: TAMIR
PERIOD: 01/02/2020 – 31/05/2022
FUNDING ENTITY: UCPM-874435-TAMIR
Hazards induced by convective storms and heavy rains (e.g. floods) become disasters when and where they interact with exposed and vulnerable societal systems, e.g., human life and activities, assets, and infrastructure. Recent progress in seamless probabilistic multi-source hazard forecasting induced by heavy rainfall has made it possible to produce predictions from the nowcast (several minutes) to short-medium ranges (5 days), enabling consistent decision making at both emergency response and planning level. However, Civil Protection agencies still face multiple challenges hampering their active decisions. These challenges include high false alarm rates, absence of multi-hazard forecasts (e.g. heavy rainfall, flood, lightning, wind gusts, hail) including their simultaneous risk assessment, and difficulty in translating hazard forecasts into impact-based decisions. This project aims to address those three main challenges using innovative, state-of-the-art science, and integration of developed products in the existing systems (e.g. the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) platform) to support pro-active emergency management at different scales. This will be achieved by (i) improving the existing products and tools with enhanced impact assessment and warning capacity, and (ii) delivering them through operational platforms and new web services, for effective integration into existing Civil Protection systems. The products and tools developed in the project will be assessed against their usefulness for decision making through case study evaluation and real-time demonstration in regional Civil Protection Agency systems.
There are four beneficiaries in the project: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and the Kymenlaakso Rescue Department (Kympe), together with the coordinator Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). Additionally, there are six stakeholders from three countries, including Civil Protection operators in Finland and Catalonia as well as a national environmental authority. The project is an extension to the former projects HAREN, EDHIT, ERICHA, and SMUFF.
The consortium is composed by 4 institutions:
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (Coordinador)
- European Centre For Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
- Kymenlaakso Rescue Department (KymPe)
In addition, there are 6 interested parties from three different countries, including Civil Protection of Finland and Catalonia, as well as a national environmental authority.
- 2021. Ritter, J.; Berenguer, M.; Park, S.; Sempere-Torres, D. Real-time assessment of flash flood impacts at pan-European scale: the ReAFFINE method. Journal of hydrology. Vol. 603 num. part C p. 127022:1-127022:15. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.127022
- 2021. Baugh, C.; Hansford, E.; Prudhomme, C.; Carton de Wiart, C.; Battino, P.; Blick, M.; Berenguer, M.; Park, S. The challenges of making seamless pan-European flash flood impact forecasts useful for local decision making. Workshop on Connecting global to local hydrological modelling and forecasting: scientific advances and challenges. p. 1
- 2021. Ritter, J.; Berenguer, M.; Park, S.; Sempere-Torres, D. Rapid flash flood impact assessments at different spatial scales. European Geosciences Union General Assembly. p. 1. DOI: 10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14444
