C&ENVENG 4115 - Flood Estimation & Modelling UG

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2015

Floods place severe social and economic stress on the affected communities, with global flood damage in 2011 alone estimated at $70 billion, leading to more than 6000 fatalities. Civil and environmental engineers play a critical role in estimating flood risk, and identifying infrastructure and planning solutions to manage the adverse consequences of flooding. This course explores approaches and methods for estimating flood risk that are commonly used in engineering practice, to be selected from the following topics: two dimensional flood modelling, rare and extreme floods, compound events, interaction of extreme rainfall and storm surge in the coastal zone, use of regionalised approaches, and the estimation of climate change impact assessments. Approaches to support the planning and management of floods will also be explored.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code C&ENVENG 4115
    Course Flood Estimation & Modelling UG
    Coordinating Unit School of Civil, Environmental & Mining Eng
    Term Semester 2
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact 4 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange N
    Prerequisites C&ENVENG 3077
    Course Description Floods place severe social and economic stress on the affected communities, with global flood damage in 2011 alone estimated at $70 billion, leading to more than 6000 fatalities. Civil and environmental engineers play a critical role in estimating flood risk, and identifying infrastructure and planning solutions to manage the adverse consequences of flooding.
    This course explores approaches and methods for estimating flood risk that are commonly used in engineering practice, to be selected from the following topics: two dimensional flood modelling, rare and extreme floods, compound events, interaction of extreme rainfall and storm surge in the coastal zone, use of regionalised approaches, and the estimation of climate change impact assessments. Approaches to support the planning and management of floods will also be explored.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Professor Seth Westra

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

    Technical knowledge and application of knowledge skills

    1.     Identify the key hydrological processes involved in conversion of rainfall to runoff, and be able to assess the conditions under which certain processes are important.

    2.     Calculate the probable maximum precipitation event and describe the likely impacts of anthropogenic climate change on Australian flood problems

    3.     Calculate interception, infiltration and baseflow, and the unit hydrograph

    4.     Explain the theory behind 2D hydraulic models

    5.     Use the commercial software packages ‘ArcGIS’ and ‘TUFLOW’, and apply this software to a realistic flood estimation problem

    Thinking skills

    6.     Solve complex engineering design problems, accounting for a range of constraints and competing objectives

    7.     Identify information needs, obtaining accurate and timely information, and applying information to an engineering design problem

    Personal skills and attributes

    8.     Work effectively as a member of a team, and be able to manage complex tasks

    9.     Plan and manage time effectively to achieve course goals

    10.   Produce professional engineering design reports

    University Graduate Attributes

    No information currently available.

  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Lecture notes and lecture slides will be a required resource and these will be provided for download from the MyUni site.
    Online Learning
    All handouts, course material and lecture slides will be made available on MyUni. The use of the discussion board on MyUni is also strongly recommended. Assignments are to be submitted online, with instructions to be provided through email announcements and/or during lectures.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    The course will generally involve two one-hour lectures and two one hour CATS practical sessions per week. Certain weeks during semester will be dedicated to tutorial sessions where individuals and groups will work exclusively on their assignments. The timing of these sessions will be provided on the MyUni site.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    In line with University guidelines, it is expected that the average student should spend 12 hours per week on this course. In addition to the lectures (2 hours) and the practical session (2 hours), students are expected to spend an additional 8 hours per week reviewing lecture material and working on the online quizzes and design projects.
    Learning Activities Summary

    No information currently available.

  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    The overall assessment schedule is given in the table below. All assessments (including quizzes and assignments) are due at 11:59pm of the day indicated. Note that dates provided below are subject to changes, so please refer to announcements through the MyUni portal.

    Task Title % Group/Individual Type Calendar Date
    1 Online Quizzes 5 Individual Online multiple choice TBA
    2-1 Assignment 1 10 Individual Assignment with calculations Friday, Week 4
    2-2 Assignment 2 15 Individual Assignment with calculations Friday, Week 7
    2-3 Assignment 3 25 Group (2) Assignment with modelling Friday, Week 11
    3 Exam 45 Individual Numerical / Short Answer TBA
    TOTAL 100

    Note that for the third assignment, groups are self-selected. Each group member is expected to contribute equally to the overall task.  In cases of perceived unequal contributions to groupwork, students should come and discuss the matter with the course coordinator.

    The timetable for the online quizzes is given below - see MyUni to access the online quizzes. Once again, note that dates provided below are subject to change, so please refer to announcements on the MyUni portal.

    Quiz Topics Covered Due Date
    1 Floods, meteorology and GIS Friday, Week 3
    2 Climate change and interception Friday, Week 5
    3 Runoff generation, baseflow and flood routing Friday, Week 7
    4 2D hydrodynamic modelling and spatial data Friday, Week 9
    5 Flood risk management and estuarine extremes Friday, Week 11


    Assessment Related Requirements
    In order to pass this course, students must obtain at least:

    • 35% averaged over all phases of the design project, and
    • 40% for the exam
    If the above requirements are not met, students will receive a zero (0) fail for this course.
    Assessment Detail

    No information currently available.

    Submission
    Digital submissions should be submitted by the appropriate MyUni portal for the particular assessment. Further information will be provided through the course’s MyUni website.

    Late submissions will only be accepted for the design projects. There will be a loss of 10% of the marks obtained if the submission is less than 24h late, 20% if the submission is between 24 and 48h late and so on.  Extensions will only be granted in special circumstances (e.g. illness) and must be sought for each assessment task individually. Extensions will not be granted less than 24h before the deadline for a given task, with the exception of a medical certificate.
    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

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  • Policies & Guidelines
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