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Floods

Extreme precipitation, higher river flows, and climate change are causing floods and waterlogging to occur with increasing frequency. Which areas are most at risk? Which infrastructure is vulnerable? And what measures can make an area climate-resilient?

In this Blended Learning course, you’ll learn how to analyze and substantiate flood risks using QGIS. You’ll combine digital elevation models, hydrological models, open geodata, and flood simulations to identify vulnerable areas and understand the effects of various climate scenarios. You will then translate these analyses into well-founded recommendations, appropriate measures, and effective packages of measures for climate adaptation, water safety, and spatial planning.

What problems can you solve using flood analysis with QGIS?

  • Which areas are at the greatest risk of flooding during extreme rainfall or high river flows?
  • Which residential areas, infrastructure, and critical facilities are most vulnerable to flooding?
  • Where can water storage and climate adaptation measures have the greatest impact?
  • How do flood risks change under different climate scenarios?
  • Which measures most effectively reduce flood risk within a watershed?

During this Blended Learning course, you’ll learn how to analyze these issues and support your findings using QGIS. You’ll combine digital elevation models, open geodata, hydraulic models, and flood simulations to gain insight into flood risks. You will then translate these analyses into evidence-based recommendations, appropriate measures, and effective packages of measures for climate adaptation, water safety, and spatial planning.

The Theory Behind Flood Risks

A thorough flood analysis begins with an understanding of the processes that lead to waterlogging and flooding. You’ll learn key hydrological and hydraulic concepts such as discharge, water depth, flow velocity, retention, return periods, peak discharges, and flood probabilities.

You’ll also learn how climate change, land subsidence, urbanization, and the layout of a watershed influence flood risk. By understanding these processes, you will not only be able to interpret analysis results but also compare different climate scenarios and translate them into reliable risk analyses, well-founded recommendations, and appropriate measures.

Working with Open Data and Hydraulic Models

A reliable flood analysis starts with the right data. That’s why you’ll work with up-to-date open datasets that are widely used by water authorities, provinces, municipalities, and consulting firms. You’ll become familiar with, among other things, AHN, Copernicus DEM, KNMI precipitation data, Waterinfo, BGT, OpenStreetMap, and hydraulic model results from, for example, HEC-RAS.

You’ll learn how different data sources and model results are combined to obtain a comprehensive picture of a watershed. You’ll also discover how hydraulic models can be used to analyze the current situation, simulate climate scenarios, and support decision-making regarding climate adaptation and water safety.

Performing Flood Analysis in QGIS

After covering the theoretical basics, you’ll get hands-on experience in QGIS. You’ll learn to combine hydraulic model results, digital elevation models, and open geodata to identify flood risks, water depths, flow velocities, and vulnerable areas.

You’ll perform analyses such as inundation analyses, risk analyses, scenario comparisons, and vulnerability analyses. You’ll also learn how to use tools like the Crayfish plugin to visualize hydraulic model results and compare different climate scenarios. The goal of the analysis is not only to identify flood risks but also to support decision-making and substantiate the most effective climate adaptation measures.

From Analysis to Evidence-Based Advice

During the Blended Learning program, you’ll work with realistic real-world examples and open datasets. You’ll step into the role of a hydrological consultant and tackle issues similar to those encountered by water authorities, provinces, municipalities, and consulting firms. You’ll analyze the available data, evaluate potential measures, compare different climate scenarios, and justify which set of measures best suits the situation.

You’ll work on assignments such as:

  • A municipality wants to know which residential neighborhoods are at the greatest risk of flooding during extreme rainfall. Analyze the risks and justify possible measures.
  • A water board is investigating where additional water storage is needed to reduce peak runoff.
  • Analyze which infrastructure and critical facilities in a province are most vulnerable to flooding.
  • Compare different climate scenarios and assess their implications for flood risks and water safety.
  • Investigate which climate adaptation measures have the greatest impact on reducing flood risks within a watershed.
  • Develop a well-reasoned recommendation for a consulting firm on climate adaptation and water safety, including risk maps, promising measures, and an appropriate package of measures.

Upon completion, you will have the practical skills to independently analyze flood risks, assess climate scenarios, and translate spatial analyses into concrete recommendations, appropriate measures, and well-founded decision-making for climate adaptation, water safety, and spatial planning.

Enroll

€395,-
  • Start: 1-hour online session
  • Self-study: Review course materials
  • End: 1-hour online session
Register for this course

You’ll receive 1-on-1 guidance. After signing up, our course coordinator will contact you to schedule your first session.

Learning Objectives

  • Analyzing flood risks using QGIS, hydraulic models, digital elevation models (DEMs), and open geodata.
  • Combining open datasets, such as AHN, Copernicus DEM, KNMI precipitation data, Waterinfo, and hydraulic model results, to conduct spatial analyses of vulnerable areas and flood risks.
  • Conducting inundation analyses, risk assessments, scenario comparisons, and visualizations to provide insight into the consequences of extreme precipitation and high river flows.
  • Conduct spatial analyses to substantiate the effects of climate adaptation measures, water storage, and other solutions for water safety.
  • Translate flood analyses into concrete recommendations, appropriate measures, and evidence-based decision-making for climate adaptation, water safety, and spatial planning.

Want to know more?

Do you have questions about the course content? Or are you unsure whether the course aligns with your learning goals or preferences? Would you prefer an in-house or private course? We’d be happy to help.

FAQs on Blended Learning: Flood Analysis with QGIS

This blended learning course helps you analyze issues such as waterlogging following extreme precipitation, flooding caused by high river discharge, vulnerable residential areas and infrastructure, water storage, and climate adaptation. You’ll learn how to investigate and substantiate these risks using QGIS, open geodata, and hydraulic models.

 

With QGIS, you can combine digital elevation models (DEMs), hydraulic modeling results, open geodata, and precipitation data to gain insight into flood risks. You analyze water depths, flow velocities, inundation areas, and vulnerable locations, and translate these findings into evidence-based recommendations for flood protection and climate adaptation.

During the course, you will work with open datasets such as AHN, Copernicus DEM, KNMI precipitation data, Waterinfo, BGT, OpenStreetMap, and hydraulic model results, for example from HEC-RAS. This data is widely used by water authorities, provinces, municipalities, and consulting firms for flood and risk analyses.

Yes. Climate adaptation is an important part of this course. You will learn how to analyze the impacts of extreme precipitation and climate change, compare different climate scenarios, and justify which measures contribute most to a climate-resilient water system.

Upon completion, you will be able to analyze flood risks, interpret hydraulic model results, identify vulnerable areas and infrastructure, and translate the results into concrete recommendations, appropriate measures, and evidence-based decision-making for water safety, climate adaptation, and land-use planning.