For immediate release - Wednesday 9 September 2009
Press release issued by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology - 2009/12
Major upgrade to industry standard flood estimation software
A major upgrade to the industry standard UK flood estimation software, WINFAP-FEH, is launched on 9 September 2009. WINFAP-FEH 3 incorporates recent scientific advances to the Flood Estimation Handbook statistical methods, and offers improved functionality and ease of use.
The Flood Estimation Handbook, the methodology used by WINFAP-FEH, was originally published in 1999 and continues to form the basis of most work on flood frequency estimation in the UK, including flood mapping studies, flood risk assessments, the design of flood alleviation schemes, and methods for assessing the rarity of notable rainfall and flood events which are of particular interest to insurers. The Flood Estimation Handbook procedures have been adopted as standard practice by the Environment Agency and are used by many organisations engaged in flood frequency estimation in the UK.
The new WINFAP-FEH 3 software has been developed under licence by Wallingford HydroSolutions Ltd, a spin-out company from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and incorporates several significant scientific advances from the flood research team at NERC’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. The scientific developments were funded by NERC and the Joint Defra/Environment Agency (EA) Flood and Coastal Management R&D program. Many of the functionality improvements have resulted from input made by users of the Flood Estimation Handbook.
The new version of WINFAP-FEH links to the EA’s HiFlows-UK website allowing quick assessment of gauging station quality and relevance. The software has been re-engineered to produce a significantly more user-friendly interface and logical menu structure.
To complement the latest WINFAP-FEH release scientists at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology have updated the FEH CD-ROM, the new version of which is also released on the 9 September. FEH CD-ROM 3 provides catchment data and rainfall depth-duration-frequency information for use in Flood Estimation Handbook procedures and has been extended to include three new flood plain descriptors, one of which is used within the WINFAP-FEH 3 software. Both new products will be distributed by Wallingford HydroSolutions.
Lisa Stewart, Flood Estimation Handbook science leader at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said, “Recent research at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology has led to several improvements to the existing Flood Estimation Handbook statistical procedures for flood frequency estimation. The partnership with Wallingford HydroSolutions has allowed the rapid incorporation of these new scientific developments into WINFAP-FEH 3. We have also updated the datasets on the FEH CD-ROM to support the new WINFAP-FEH release. Both developments will aid the user community in improving the reliability of flood frequency estimation in the UK.”
The new science incorporated within the software includes:
• Enhanced single site analysis
• Improved estimation of QMED (the median annual maximum flood) from catchment descriptors
• Updated QMED adjustment from donor gauges
• Catchment centroid (CENTROID) and a new catchment descriptor, flood plain extent (FPEXT)
• Enhanced pooling procedures
• Recommended pooled record length
• New urban adjustment method
WINFAP-FEH 3 has also been re-engineered to produce a significantly more user-friendly interface and logical menu structure, including:
• Licensing via USB 'dongle'
• Intuitive and user-friendly menus
• Improved pooling group development and flood frequency curve wizard
• Full integration with the latest FEH CD-ROM update (version 3)
• Calculator tool for estimating flood characteristics
• Safe editing of catchment descriptors and flood data
• Integration with the EA’s HiFlows-UK website
Andy Young, Director Wallingford HydroSolutions, said “The partnership between Wallingford HydroSolutions and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is a great example of how to take the latest scientific research and quickly incorporate it in software for industry use. As well as incorporating the latest science the new release of WINFAP-FEH also includes significant improvements to the functionality of the software, many of which have been suggested by the ever expanding user base of WINFAP-FEH.”
WINFAP-FEH 3 software training courses are now available from Wallingford HydroSolutions to help customers get the most out of the new software.
Ends
Notes to Editors
For more information, contact Barnaby Smith or Kate Groves in the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology press office.
The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) is the UK's Centre of Excellence for integrated research in the land and freshwater ecosystems and their interaction with the atmosphere. CEH is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and employs more than 450 people at five major sites in England, Scotland and Wales with an overall budget of about £35m. CEH also hosts over 150 PhD students. CEH tackles complex environmental challenges to deliver practicable solutions so that future generations can benefit from a rich and healthy environment.
Wallingford HydroSolutions (WHS) was founded in 2004 by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as a spin-out consultancy company based at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) in Wallingford. WHS expanded in 2009 to open a Scottish office in Dundee. WHS has a well-established reputation in providing both consultancy services and environmental software systems to the water and environmental sectors, with a team of experienced technical staff including specialists in water resources, hydrometric services, environmental impact assessment, flood risk assessment, water quality modelling and monitoring. WHS is the licensed developer and supplier of the FEH WINFAP and ReFH modelling packages and distributes FEH CD-ROM 3 on behalf of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
The Flood Estimation Handbook (FEH), published in 1999, continues to form the basis of most work on flood frequency estimation in the UK. It consists of five volumes describing two principal methods for conducting flood frequency analysis as well as information on electronic datasets of catchment descriptors such as catchment area and standard average annual rainfall. The two principal methods described in the FEH are: i) a rainfall-runoff based approach, and ii) a statistical method based on analysis of annual maximum series of instantaneous peak flow. Recent scientific developments to the FEH methodology have been supported by funding from the Natural Environment Research Council and the Joint Defra/Environment Agency Flood and Coastal Management R&D program.
The FEH CD-ROM 3 package was designed and developed by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. FEH CD-ROM 3 holds catchment information (descriptors) for more than four million sites across the UK that drain an area of 0.5 km2 or greater. It also provides rainfall depth-duration-frequency (DDF) information for the catchments and for 1 km grid points across the UK. It includes three new catchment descriptors:
• FPEXT – the proportion of the catchment within the modelled 100-year floodplain. FPEXT is essential for the new FEH statistical method implemented in WINFAP-FEH 3.
• FPLOC – the average distance of the modelled 100-year floodplain grid points from the catchment outlet.
• FPDBAR – the mean flood depth over the whole catchment.
FEH CD-ROM 3 uses data from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Ordnance Survey and Automobile Association Developments Ltd datasets. Many organisations provided data that assisted in the derivation of the FEH digital catchment descriptors. The co-operation of the Met Office and other agencies in providing data for the rainfall frequency research is acknowledged in FEH Volume 2.
