the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
GeoFlood (v1.0.0): Computational model for overland flooding
Abstract. This paper presents GeoFlood, a new open-source software package for solving the shallow-water equations (SWE) on a quadtree hierarchy of mapped, logically Cartesian grids managed by the parallel, adaptive library ForestClaw (Calhoun and Burstedde, 2017). The GeoFlood model is validated using standard benchmark tests from Neelz and Pender (2013) as well as the historical Malpasset dam failure. The benchmark test results are compared against those we obtained from GeoClaw (Clawpack Development Team, 2020) and the software package HEC-RAS (Hydraulic Engineering Center- River Analysis System, Army Corp of Engineers) (Brunner, 2018). The Malpasset outburst flood results are compared with those presented in George (2011) (obtained from the GeoClaw software), model results from Hervouet and Petitjean (1999), and empirical data. The comparisons validate GeoFlood’s capabilities for idealized benchmarks compared to other commonly used models as well as its ability to efficiently simulate highly dynamic floods in complex terrain, consistent with historical field data. Because it is massively parallel and scalable, GeoFlood may be a valuable tool for efficiently computing large-scale flooding problems at very high resolutions.
Status: open (extended)
- CC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2173', Xiaofeng Liu, 19 Sep 2025 reply
Data sets
Datasets used in GeoFlood comparison to other models Brian Kyanjo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10897305
Model code and software
GeoFlood model Brian Kyanjo, Donna Calhoun https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10929142
User Manual for running all codes used in the paper Brian Kyanjo https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O3QizHHNUrOUjw6Uw-G_2tLBPcZgT-PP/view?usp=sharing
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This manuscript introduces and describes GeoFlood, a new open-source software for solving SWEs on quadtree meshes using ForestClaw. The new model is compared with GeoClaw and HEC-RAS. The model has its value in the modeling of flood in large domains. I have the following comments:
- Â It will be easy for the reviewer if the line numbers are turned on.
- Second paragraph in the Introduction: the authors claim that shock-capturing fvm have become the dominant class of schemes. I disagree. Most commonly used code in practice, e.g., HEC-RAS 2D, do not use the shock-capturing scheme (Riemann solver). The reason is its limitation on time step size due the explicit nature of the scheme.Â
- In all the test cases, when comparing with GeoClaw and HEC-RAS, do they have similar and comparable meshes and resolutions? If the mesh resolutions are significantly different, then the computing efficiency comparison is not on the same basis.Â
- Fig 8: It is better to use two color maps for show the bathymetry and water depth separately.Â
- Can meshes i GeoFlood be coarsened in addition to refinement? The reason is that after the front has passed, the mesh can be coarsened to reduce computational cost.Â
- Fig 16: Need to define parallel efficiency. What is it?