Application of newtonian nudging data assimilation method in hydrodynamic model of flood flow in the lower Biebrza basin

The paper presents a 1D hydrodynamic flood flow model employing a data assimilation procedure based on Newtonian nudging. Data assimilation was used to determine correctly the upstream boundary condition defined as a discharge hydrograph. In the model developed, “nudging to individual observations” method was used. The data chosen for assimilation were water table levels recorded by a D-Diver automatic sensor installed in the river channel c. 1.5 km below a computational cross-section opening the analysed stretch of the river and the adjacent valley. This hydrological model of flood flow containing the data assimilation procedure is based on a one-dimensional Saint-Venant system of equations (dynamic wave model). The calculations were performed for the 2010 spring flood event at a 20-km stretch of the river and the floodplain in the upper part of the Lower Biebrza Basin. Modifying the boundary condition by using data assimilation has dramatically improved the accuracy of water table predictions during floods in the area of the Lower Biebrza Basin.