Effects of Climate Change and Land Use on Rainfall and Management of Flooding in an Urban Coastal Catchment

Way, Erin (2019) Effects of Climate Change and Land Use on Rainfall and Management of Flooding in an Urban Coastal Catchment. [USQ Project]

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Abstract

Extreme and unpredictable rainfall events occur regularly within Australia and the likelihood of these occurring more regularly may increase as a result of climate change. This dissertation investigates whether the occurrence of severe rainfall events based on estimated climatic condition changes on the Gold Coast have increased and will determine whether this has resulted in increased rainfall intensity and flood levels. Sea-level rise and increased flood levels will be analysed along with storm surge and how this correlates with climate change.

These severe rainfall events are unexpected and have the potential to have a large impact on urban areas. Future predicted rainfall intensities have a high possibility of increasing due to climate change and it is critical to understand these changes as it can result in increases to the risks of flooding. Population growth in urban coastal areas are vulnerable to climate change effects such as sea-level rise exacerbating coastal erosion and possible inundation.

The Currumbin Creek catchment has been chosen for this analysis due to the area being low-lying with a potential large increase in population. An increase in population follows a need for development, subsequently a change in land use and enhanced climate change factors.

An analysis will be conducted on rainfall events using QGIS and TUFLOW modelling software. Data is obtained from available online datasets that are input into the software programs. A number of scenarios will be modelled applying climate change factors, increased impervious ground cover and increased sea-levels. These scenarios are historical, current and future with climate change factors applied.

The investigation concluded that the critical storm duration for all three scenarios is the 1440-minute (24 hour) storm. Additionally, it was found at the Pacific Motorway crossing of the Currumbin Creek there was no change in flood level when adjusting the TWL conditions. Within the future scenario the flood extent had grown compared to the historical and current scenarios.


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Item Type: USQ Project
Item Status: Live Archive
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Civil Engineering and Surveying (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2021)
Supervisors: Trzcinski, Antoine
Qualification: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Civil)
Date Deposited: 16 Aug 2021 03:37
Last Modified: 27 Jun 2023 04:12
URI: https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/43116

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