International Conference CITIES, RAIN and RISK, 13-14 June 2019, Malmö, Sweden
The conference CITIES, RAIN and RISK was the joint final seminar of Water JPI (WaterWorks2014) projects MUFFIN (Multi-Scale Urban Flood Forecasting) and INXCES (Innovations for Extreme Climatic Events), together with two national Swedish projects (Sustainable Urban Flood Management and X-band Weather Radar).
The conference was divided into four themes (1) End-user engagement, tailored tools and public perceptions, (2) Rainfall and environmental observation and forecasting, (3) Urban flood modelling and forecasting and (4) Water management, nature-based solutions and climate adaptation. Almost 150 persons attended the conference; the abstract booklet can be found here and for a short glimpse of the conference, see video here.
MUFFIN PROJECT: The aim of MUFFIN project (see webpage here) was to bridge the gap between the urban and large-scale hydrological modelling communities and develop innovative tools for reducing the urban impacts of extreme precipitation, including sensor technology, systems for interpreting and communicating data, and monitoring networks that will contribute to improved integrated risk management solutions to urban floods. One of the tools that have been developed in MUFFIN is RAINVIS, which is a real-time high-resolution high-intensity rainfall visualization prototype. It provides the user the best possible information and decision support both before a flood event (forecasts – for early warning), during the event (observation and forecast – for situation awareness) and after the event (observations – for post-event analysis). Another MUFFIN output is a multi-scale flood forecasting prototype developed for Aalborg City, Denmark. For more information about the MUFFIN results, please visit the project at the Water JPI open data webpage.
The overall objectives of INXCES is to develop new innovative technological methods for risk assessment and mitigation of extreme hydroclimatic events and optimization of urban water-dependent ecosystem services at the catchment level, for a spectrum of rainfall events. It is widely acknowledged that extreme events such as floods and droughts are an increasing challenge, particularly in urban areas.
INXCES PROJECT: Specifically, INXCES has developed a Quick-scan method for flood prone areas in cities. It is based on readily available GIS data coupled with a 3D visualization, which is a key aspect of understanding the consequences of flooding on a policy and development level. Novel methodologies for characterising the behaviour of metals in urban stormwater runoff and snowmelt have been implemented and the implications of new knowledge generated for runoff and snowmelt treatment considered. Further INXCES has identified stormwater filters with high resilience for hydroclimatic extremes and coupled with high performance water treatment. Improved understanding of the snowmelt processes and modelling of climatic influences on such processes has been an important addition to closing the knowledge gap on snowmelt in urban settings. Drought resulting in water stress changes the soil moisture content, which in turn causes changes in the soil surface elevations on a micro scale. It is possible to map these changes through linking multiple time series of satellite observations (InSAR) to hydroclimatic events. This work has been initiated in the first half of the project, and has been expanded in the second half of the project period.
The INXCES project has conducted several collaborative field and laboratory experiments. For example, an evaluation of metal fractionation in rainfall, rain-on-snow and snowmelt runoff events and the full-scale stress test of urban mitigation measures such as raingardens. This adds important knowledge to the evidence base of the impact of precipitation type on pollutant behaviour and how these stormwater measures function during extreme events.
Ahead of the end event “Cities, Rain and Risk” a 2-day Climate Café, targeting young professionals, with the aim of multidisciplinary knowledge exchange by a “learning by doing” event was arranged in Augustenborg Eco-City. 20 young professionals attended this multidisciplinary field event, where most tasks within INXCES was incorporated in demonstration and data collection. Results from the Climate Café can be found at the following links: Climatecafe Malmo & details