Flood inundation modelling summary report – a review and description of proposed method

The hydrology theme enhanced hydrological knowledge and advanced modelling capacity to inform water resources management and planning in the Murray–Darling Basin.

Science and research

MD-WERP theme	Hydrology
MD-WERP research question	How can floodplain flow volumes, components, and inundation prediction be improved to support environmental watering and water resources planning?
Project title	Enhancing floodplain inundation and volume prediction to support environmental watering and water resource planning
Research lead	CSIRO
Authors	Jin Teng, Dave Penton, Catherine Ticehurst, Cherry Mateo, Steve Marvanek, Jai Vaze and Fathaha Khanam
Author contact details	Jin Teng
Date of publication	March 2022
Report full title	Flood inundation modelling summary report – a review and description of proposed method
Keywords	Floodplain; flood; inundation; model; volume; prediction; e-flow; e-water
Summary of output	This report is a summary of the findings from the first six months of research: Part 1 - Review of flood inundation models and previous related modelling in the Murray–Darling Basin. Part 2 – details of the proposed method and required datasets for developing constraining and validating flood inundation models for systematic water management. The research aims to build on the capacity and models from previous research and develop a model that is tailored for this purpose. The proposed model is a hybrid between RiM-FIM and the TVD model: it builds a database from remote sensing imagery like RiM-FIM does and uses a model to simulate daily inundation on the floodplain like the TVD model does. The research will improve the prediction of flood inundation extent, depth and duration, and floodplain volumes.
Key findings / recommendations	The first part of this report reviews the commonly used flood inundation models and previous key modelling efforts in the Basin. The second part of the report describes the proposed innovative method that combines multiple datasets and predictive modelling. The method will be developed and tested in key locations. Approaches will also be developed for upscaling the method to other parts of the Basin. The report also describes the collation, development and synthesis of multiple datasets required for developing, constraining, and validating flood inundation models (e.g., spatial water extent, water depth, DEM (Digital Elevation Model), hydrodynamic model outputs, river stage heights, flow hydrographs).
Target audience	Researchers, hydrological modellers, groundwater modellers, Australian Government, state governments, local governments, community, water and environmental consultants

Report
Publication title	Published	File type	File size
Flood inundation modelling summary report – a review and description of proposed method	04 Nov 2022	PDF	2.25 MB

Published date: 19 May 2025