NEC Corporation, in collaboration with Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), has conducted a trial of its flood simulation system to predict the inundation areas in the event of flood. The trial was conducted in Uttaradit Province in Northern Thailand during the period from November 2015 to March 2016, an
NEC Corporation, in collaboration with Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), has conducted a trial of its flood simulation system to predict the inundation areas in the event of flood. The trial was conducted in Uttaradit Province in Northern Thailand during the period from November 2015 to March 2016, and has confirmed the effectiveness of the system.
Flooding is a frequent occurrence in Thailand. In particular, the 2011 Chao Phraya River flood caused large-scale flood damage to many industrial parks and urban areas, including Bangkok. As a result, global supply chains were disrupted, which had a significant economic impact not only in Thailand but worldwide. Flood disaster prevention is therefore an urgent issue in Thailand.
This trial is NDWC's first disaster prevention cooperation project between Thailand and Japan. NEC conducted this trial as part of the “Research and Study for the development of a flooding simulator in Thailand” commissioned by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication.
The flood simulation system is one of the modules of NEC's “integrated risk management system”. The integrated risk management system consists of a shared platform that has functions such as data integration, visualization, and early warning, and disaster modules specialized for particular disasters such as flooding, landslides, and earthquakes. The disaster modules or functions can be selected individually as required, or several disaster modules can be combined in order to predict multiple disasters simultaneously.
The flood simulation system performs a simulation based on meteorological data (observed rainfall and forecast rainfall), topographical data (elevation values, land use purposes), and watercourse data (river networks, water levels, sewer systems, etc.), making it possible to predict inundation areas, maximum flood levels, and other flood-related information.
Further, the system can perform detailed simulations using a triangular mesh measuring 50m on each side, and provide hourly-basis prediction for a period of up to seven days in advance. This allows NDWC to issue warnings to threatened areas before the flooding occurs, helping to reduce potential damage. Moreover, even during periods when no disaster is forecast, areas at risk of flooding can be identified by performing simulations using previous rainfall data, which enables hazard maps to be prepared.