A new benchmark

in global flood

mapping

• Bates, P.

This review surveys recent progress made to address fundamental issues surrounding globally consistent mapping of flood hazard in underdeveloped countries. This is ach through a novel combination of appropriate physics, efficient numerical algorithms, high-performance computing, new sources of big data, and model automation frameworks.

• Kousky, C.,
• Bradt, J.,
• Wing, O.

In a wide-ranging analysis in collaboration with Jacob Bradt (Harvard) and Carolyn Kousky (Wharton), we find voluntary insurance purchases are preferentially taking place in areas where Fathom’s model deviates from FEMA flood maps.

• Sampson, C.,
• Chone, G.,
• Mazgareanu, I.,
• Neal, J.,
• Biron, P.,
• Buffin-Bélanger, T.

In this paper we collaborated with colleagues at the University of Concordia to demonstrate the value of bathymetry estimation in large scale model frameworks by testing across four watersheds in Quebec, Canada.

• Merz, B.,
• Macdonald, E.,
• Dottori, F.,
• Blöschl, G.,
• Kreibich, H.,
• Aerts, J.,
• Bertola, M.,
• Bates, P.,
• Vorogushyn, S.,
• Lall, U.

Paul Bates contributes to a significant review in Nature of the causes and impacts of disastrous river flooding, and their past and projected trends.

• Bomblies, A.,
• Parker, E.,
• Tobin-de la Puente, J.,
• Quesnel, K.,
• Mandle, L.,
• Brand, M.,
• Allaire, M.,
• Ulibarri, N.,
• Wing, O.,
• Saksa, P.

Environment Impact Bonds (EIBs) are in their infancy, yet are increasingly recognised as a funding solution to tackle the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Our contribution, alongside colleagues at The Nature Conservancy, discusses how recent developments to flood models at scale can help to inform both the principal and the repayment interest rate for flood mitigation projects, such as floodplain conservation.

• Sampson, C.,
• Wehner, M.

Using Fathom’s US flood model to examine how climate change exacerbated the impact of Hurricane Harvey, which devastated Houston in 2017.