A New National Flood 
Inundation Mapping Science 
Initiative 
William Guertal, PhD.

Director, USGS Indiana and Kentucky Water 
Science Centers



Courtesy of Louisiana Digital Map Library: 
http://www.usgwarchives.org/maps/louisiana/ 



From the 19thto the 21stcentury
MPj04331640000[1]
Old concept, new technology:

Leveraging Evolving Technologies

.LiDAR-DEMs
.GIS
.World Wide Web
.2D hydraulic models
.Real-time and forecast 
hydrologic data
.FEMA’s HAZUS-MH



Field_station_graphic
MCj04348110000[1]

NWS Assessment Team
.Team comprised of 
NWS, USACE, USGS 
members
.Report contains a 
number of findings 
& recommendations 
to improve customer 
service 




Key Findings & Recommendations


.Finding 28: Flood inundation 
mapping will help the public, 
media, emergency managers, 
and others visualize the 
spatial extent and depth of 
flood waters in the vicinity 
of NWS river forecast 
locations.
.Recommendation 28: 
The NWS should expand 
efforts with state and federal 
agencies and others to 
accelerate the implementation 
of flood inundation mapping 
across the United States.



Cedar Rapids flood inundation, 2008-06-14

Inundation Mapping becomes a tool for flood…. 
.Preparedness
.“What-if” scenarios



.Response
.Tied to gage & forecast 
data



.Recovery
.Damage assessment –
e.g. HAZUS-MH



.Mitigation & planning
.Flood risk analyses







New USGS Flood Inundation 
Mapping Initiative (FIMI)
FIMI will develop a comprehensive and program 
designed to meet USGS science strategy 
goals related to natural hazards and 
stakeholder needs.

Important stakeholders are those who use 
HAZUS-MH for flood-loss estimations.



Goals and Objectives
1.Develop a consistent visual and electronic 
format for USGS inundation map products.
2.Develop a National USGS FIMI Web portal 
3.Produce static flood inundation map 
libraries linked to gages/flood forecasts
4.Develop state-of-the art dynamic, real-time 
flood inundation applications
5.Develop a core of USGS and partner 
agencies 




USGS FIMI Focus Areas
1.Flood Studies
2.Static inundation map 
libraries
3.Real-time, dynamic 
applications




Flood Studies


.FEMA funded
.Many partners
.Report template
.OFR/SIR
.Flood magnitudes
.Peak profiles and 
inundation maps






youngs_franklin
PDF and GIS file formats



NWS AHPS: Advanced Hydrologic 
Prediction Service
.Forecast stage at flood 
forecast points
.Collocated at gages


http://www.weather.gov/ahps/


AHPS
animatenoaa

AHPS Library, Findlay, OH 



Dynamic Applications
.Mines USGS/NWS data
.Hydraulic model run 
on-the-fly
.Responds to changing 
gage & forecast info
.Outputs RT & 
predicted maps
.Ultimate destination 
for FIMI




Real-time inundation mapping
.IN Silver Jackets 
Pilot Project
.11-mile reach of 
White River, 
Indianapolis
.Tied to 
streamgage/flood 
forecast point
.Partnering with 
POLIS Center



Funding
•City of Indianapolis
•IDHS
•USGS
•Indianapolis Museum of Art




SOA –Service Oriented Architecture
Allows different applications to exchange data 
with one another.

Products/services based on interoperability of 
independent & distributed applications. 



FASTMECH 
Calibration
Real-time USGS 
gage and NWS 
flood forecast 
data


FastMech 
runs on IU’s 
“Big Red”
Loss 
Calculation 
Process


Maps and 
Reports
Flood 
Depth 
Grid 
Data
Loss Estimate


Parcel Data


Flood Map
Parcel & 
HAZUS 
Data 
Service
animatenoaa

Web Portal -Goals
.Develop a National USGS Web portal to 
display existing and future FIMI products
.Single point of entry for users
.Present a common “look and feel” to 
products with varying levels of technical 
difficulty
.Export products to FEMA and NWS
.Login access for EMA officials
.Will have high-speed mapping viewer




Web Portal
http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/



Summary and Conclusions
.Inundation maps + RT/forecast data = 
powerful new tool for flood loss reduction
.Partnerships make it possible
.Highly expandable in scope and scale
.Coastal inundation/hurricanes



.SOA = expandability & future potential
.Public flood education/ outreach
.Travel-time –spill applications
.Levee & dam breach applications



.Great tool/resource to use with HAZUS




dawggy
Questions?