Design and evaluation of a community and impact-based site-specific early warning system (SS-EWS): the SS-EWS framework
The recent extreme rainfall events in Spain such as the storm Gloria have highlighted the gaps in emergency communication, particularly the disconnect between the available impact-based early warning systems (IBEWSs) and the steps communities take during emergencies. This paper presents a community-...
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/386574 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/386574 https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12860 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Flood warning systems Emergency management Forecasting and warning Pluvial flooding Risk communication Inundacions -- Previsió Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria civil::Geologia::Hidrologia |
| Sumario: | The recent extreme rainfall events in Spain such as the storm Gloria have highlighted the gaps in emergency communication, particularly the disconnect between the available impact-based early warning systems (IBEWSs) and the steps communities take during emergencies. This paper presents a community-centred framework named ‘site-specific early warning system’ (SS-EWS) to co-design and co-evaluate with communities an IBEWS for vulnerable locations within high-risk areas. The components of the framework guide communities in identifying and evaluating local impacts; establishing impact and advisory tables; deriving impact-based rainfall thresholds and warning levels; and configuring the SS-EWS with radar-based nowcasting and numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. A first implementation and evaluation of the SS-EWS have been done for a public school, two ford crossings and the city of Terrassa, Spain. The SS-EWS shows promising results in triggering location-based or site-specific warnings compatible with the reported impacts and proposing actions to reduce the local risk. Furthermore, the combination of NWP and radar-based nowcasting improved the capacity of the SS-EWS to monitor the evolution of the precipitation and capture highly intense rainfall. The SS-EWS can be a straightforward and cost-efficient complement for regional EWS to increase the preparedness of communities. |
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