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Incorporating floodplain topography into large-scale routing models to improve predicted flood hydrographs (data)


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Created: Aug 26, 2026 at 7 p.m. (UTC)
Last updated: Aug 26, 2026 at 7:58 p.m. (UTC)
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Abstract

Accurately predicting the magnitude and timing of overbank flooding is crucial for protecting communities. Floodplains attenuate floods and can reduce downstream impacts, yet large-scale routing models such as the National Water Model (NWM) represent floodplains as confined compound channels, potentially limiting the ability to model attenuation. Recent advances in topographic datasets now allow more realistic representation of floodplain geometry, but the benefits of this added complexity on flood prediction are untested and likely vary across hydrogeomorphic settings. We evaluated the influence of topographically derived cross-section geometry (FULL topography) on flood hydrographs across the Lake Champlain Basin, USA, by developing reach- and basin-scale Muskingum-Cunge routing models using both NWM and FULL topography, driven by NWM Retrospective hydrologic inputs. At the reach scale, FULL topography reduced peak discharge by <10% and celerity by 30-50% relative to the NWM. Celerity reductions were largest in wide, well-connected, low-gradient floodplains with large drainage areas, while peak discharge reductions were greatest in headwater reaches. FULL topography improved flood prediction in ~45% of test cases, primarily where floodplain and wetland area was extensive and the NWM overpredicted peaks. Results highlight the potential for floodplain topography to improve routing performance and begin to inform development of spatially heterogeneous flood routing frameworks.

Subject Keywords

Coverage

Spatial

Coordinate System/Geographic Projection:
WGS 84 EPSG:4326
Coordinate Units:
Decimal degrees
Place/Area Name:
Lake Champlain Basin
North Latitude
45.1534°
East Longitude
-72.6789°
South Latitude
42.9428°
West Longitude
-73.4260°

Temporal

Start Date:
End Date:

Content

Credits

Funding Agencies

This resource was created using funding from the following sources:
Agency Name Award Title Award Number
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH) NA22NWS4320003

How to Cite

Scamardo, J. (2026). Incorporating floodplain topography into large-scale routing models to improve predicted flood hydrographs (data), HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/1b5d5e2df94e44cb8b081bfb856c7af9

This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoCommercial CC BY-NC.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
CC-BY-NC

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