WP 4000 - Hydro- and Morphodynamics, Ground Water and Flood Hazard

Objectives

The core research focus of WP 4000 is the characteristic and name giving property of the Yel-low River: the sediment dynamics in combination with floods. A particular focus will be set on the annual floods induced by the reservoir flushes in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. These flushes started in 1999 and carry the highest annual discharge and sedi-ment load causing the most prominent morphological changes in the river bed and adjacent floodplains. Next to the actual sediment dynamics, the proposed studies entail also fundamen-tal hydrological and hydrodynamic research questions on the background of changed bounda-ry conditions for the water management. The morphodynamic research contains extensive field works and monitoring campaigns and advanced computer aided simulation studies. Based on the hydrodynamic studies another research focus is a probabilistic-dynamic flood hazard assessment for storm surges considering possible failures of sea dikes. Both research foci, the morphodynamics and the flood hazard assessment, will be supported by remote sens-ing products from WP 2000 and WP 3000.

The essential aims of WP 4000 can be formulated as:

• Large scale 3D simulation of the hydro- and morphodynamics of the Yellow River Delta and the near coastal areas of the Bohai Sea
• Sino-German measurement campaigns and field research for the collection of recent states and parameters of surface and ground water quantity and quality as the basis for the control and calibration of the proposed simulations
• Detailed studies on river bank erosion and bed sedimentation along a shippable reach of the Yellow River in the Delta, with a particular focus on passenger ship traffic
• Probabilistic-dynamic flood hazard assessment of storm surges for the city of Dongy-ing and adjacent areas
• Research and consulting on recent problems in ground water dynamics and salinization and possible climate change impacts

WP 4000 is structured in two Tasks with following Activities:

Task 4100: Hydro- and Morphodynamics, Ground water

• 4110 3D modelling of the Yellow River Delta
• 4120 Detailed 3D modelling of waterways
• 4130 Ground water and salinization
• 4140 In-situ measurements

Task 4200: Flood Hazard analysis

• 4210 2D inundation simulation
• 4220 Failure probabilities of coastal dikes
• 4230 Probabilistic flood hazard analysis