Flooding areas of Ofanto river using advanced topographic and hydraulic approaches

Apulia Basin Authority (AdBP) is actually carrying out an advanced and complex study for evaluating flooding areas of downstream reach of Ofanto, one of the most important river in Southern Italy. The performed analysis is strictly related to a reliable definition of the hydraulic risk map in order to plan efficient hazard management actions. Due to the geo-morphological characteristics of the selected river branch – that presents a length of about 36 km from the Roman bridge, close to Canosa city, to the sea outfall –- this activity represents an interesting case study for the contextual use of modern technologies in topographic data management and hydraulic computation. The geometrical model used for the hydraulic simulation was created using input data coming from airborne laser scanning (LIDAR), which generates 1 m cell-size Digital Surface Model (DSM) and Digital Terrain Model (DTM), that were integrated with high-resolution digital orthophotos. The hydraulic simulation was developed adopting a mixed 1D/2D scheme, where one-dimensional model within the levees and two-dimensional model outside were used. Simplified model for estimating friction factor distribution within the floodplain area was adopted, too.