Electronics

According to the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, flooding causes more damage than any other severe weather-related event, an average of $5 billion per year in the U.S. It kills more people each year than tornadoes, hurricanes or lightning, and it occurs in every U.S. state and territory. It’s a threat experienced worldwide, anywhere that receives rain.

A flood event in Iowa back in 2008 cost $10 billion in damages to the state, prompting the establishment of the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) at the University of Iowa, the first center in the country for advanced flood-related research and education.

Simplified 2-D models are the current state-of-the-art for predicting flood wave propagation, but an IFC team led by UI professor George Constantinescu is creating 3-D non-hydrostatic flood models to more accurately simulate how floods spread across land. These 3-D models can also be used to assess and improve the predictive capabilities of the 2-D models already in use.