FEMA - Harvey Flood Depths Grid

This resource describes a dataset of gridded depth at horizontal resolution of 3 meters, published November 15, 2017, downloaded from FEMA [1] and now also hosted in an archive at the University of Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) [2]. The raster dataset is contained within an Esri ArcGIS geodatabase.

This product utilized Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) interpolation, four quality assurance measures (identifying dips, spikes, duplication, and inaccurate/unrealistic measurements). High Water Marks were obtained from the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD), US Geological Survey (USGS), and other inspection data. Elevation data comprised a mosaic of 3 meter resampled elevations from 1M & 3M LiDAR, and IFSAR data. One section of the IfSAR data was found to be erroneous, and replaced with a blended 10 meter section. [This description was in correspondence January 22, 2018, from Mark English, GeoSpatial Risk Analyst, FEMA Region VIII, Mitigation Division.]

A preliminary version of these depths dated September 10, 2017 can be viewed in a FEMA web map [3]. This web map shows a forecasted depth grid, based on National Weather Service (NWS) Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) forecasted water levels.

See FEMA's Natural Hazard Risk Assessment Program (NHRAP) ftp site [4] for additional HWM-based depth grids and inundation polygons:

• Harris County AOIs and Inundation Boundaries [5]
• Harris County Depth Grids [6]
• Aransas, Nueces, and San Patricio Coastal Depth Grids and Boundaries [7]

FEMA notes on these Modeled Preliminary Observations:

• Based on observed Water Levels at stream gauges interpolated along rivers, downsampled to 5m resolution DEM
• Depth grids updated with new observed peak crest as they become available
• Will include High Water Mark information as it becomes available
• Extents validated with remote sensing
• Use for determining damage levels on specific structures

See also FEMA's journal of mitigation planning and actions related to Harvey [8].

References

NOTE 1: References with URLs to “femadata.com” are no longer operational [1,4,5,6,7]. These links were used at the time this archive was prepared to obtain the zip files stored in this HydroShare resource.

NOTE 2: References to FEMA maps are no longer publicly accessible, but require FEMA login credentials [3, 8].

[1] FEMA_Depths_3m_v3.zip (39 gb ftp download) [https://data.femadata.com/Region8/Mitigation/Data_Share/]

[2] TACC 39gb wget or ftp download [https://web.corral.tacc.utexas.edu/nfiedata/Harvey/flood_data/FEMA_Harvey_Depths_3m.gdb.zip]

[3] FEMA map viewer for Hurricane Harvey resources (flood depths is bottom selection in layers list) [https://fema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=50f21538c7bf4e08b9faab430bc237c9]

[4] FEMA NHRAP ftp [https://data.femadata.com/FIMA/NHRAP/Harvey/]

[5] [https://data.femadata.com/FIMA/NHRAP/Harvey/Harris_AOIandBoundaries.zip]

[6] [https://data.femadata.com/FIMA/NHRAP/Harvey/Harris_Mosaic_dgft.zip]

[7] [https://data.femadata.com/FIMA/NHRAP/Harvey/Rockport_DG_unclipped.zip]

[8] Hurricane Harvey Mitigation Portfolio - FEMA map journal [https://fema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=70204cf2762d45409553fd9642700b7f]