FloodBank: An Internet-Based Architecture For Distributing Spatial Flood Data

Spatially explicit flood models are becoming a common feature of flood hazard risk management in Australia. Local governments, state and federal emergency management agencies and consultants all play a some role in their development. Similarly, stakeholders have a need to access models results to support decision making. To date, an impediment to improved risk reduction is access and integration of flood model results in a structured and user-friendly spatial (GIS) framework. Integration between models and GIS commonly means the conversion of a raster flood surface into a format suitable for GIS display and comparison with other databases (i.e. buildings, road networks, utilities). The flood surface will typically represent the peak flow, or a significant recurrence interval event, such as the 1 in 100 year flood. The time-series data so critical to modelling is either not used, or proves so cumbersome to manage spatially, that it cannot effectively support decision making.