Estimation of Unit Flood Discharge for Various Land Use Types with a Focus on Urbanization

Abstract

We proposed unit flood discharge model that defined as the discharge into end-order (smallest) drainage canals. The discharge acts an important role for estimating regional flooding by big rainfall events which leading roughly estimation of flood discharge associated with land use changes as urbanization. In some areas of Japan, increased urbanization with insufficient drainage canal capacity has led to increasingly frequent flooding and flood damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of urbanization on unit flood discharge using a runoff model for the Tedori River alluvial fan area, Japan. The discharge was studied as collecting runoff from paddy fields, upland crop fields, and residential lots. A runoff model for various land use types in the study area was developed using actual and physical properties of the runoff sites, and parameters for paddy fields. The model was tested using 54 big events and inputted those. The maximum total runoff ratio among different land use types was observed for residential lots, and the ratio remained relatively constant across different flood events. The minimum total runoff ratio was observed for irrigated paddy fields. There was a positive relationship between the total runoff ratio and total precipitation for all land use types. Whereas, the relationship between the peak runoff ratio and peak precipitation was variable. The runoff analysis was carried out using 60-min and 10-min precipitation data. For agricultural land, data for both intervals produced similar results.