Development of HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS models for urban floodplain mapping and flood damage reduction in Brownsville, Texas

The primary objective of this project was to develop hydrologic and hydraulic models for the floodplain analysis for Brownsville, Texas and analyze mitigation alternatives within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and digital data framework. This framework allowed for flexible manipulation of data and easy interpretation of the results. A methodology was developed that would make improvements to the more standard floodplain analysis approach with respect to both cost-effectiveness and accuracy. The project relied extensively on readily available digital data with a minimum, but sufficient, incorporation of field data for model verification purposes. Examples of this type of data included a LIDAR digital elevation model, global positioning system data, aerial photographs, and land use and land cover data. Another project objective included the collection and organization of various hydrologic and hydraulic data sources within an ArcView GIS system. The consolidation of this data will allow for rapid and efficient model updates as required in the future, and for the analysis of various alternatives for future flood control.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Engineering

Grantor

Rice University

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Quinonez, Carlo G.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bedient, Philip B.

• Hydrology
• Environmental science

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17818

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/17818