tech

AI disaster mitigation technology predicts river flooding with limited data

3 Comments

Fujitsu Ltd and Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd have announced the development of a technology that draws on mathematical models built with limited data on rainfall and water levels to create flooding predictions for rivers.

The solution leverages Fujitsu Human Centric AI Zinrai, a comprehensive portfolio that encompasses Fujitsu's wide range of AI technologies and techniques, and utilizes a model that incorporates insights from hydrology to produce an AI that achieves predictions with greater precision.

Fujitsu said in a statement that the new technology proves effective even for smaller rivers with limited measurement data or for areas where water level sensors have been newly installed and have yet to accumulate sufficient data. These predictions will offer authorities a vital tool for delivering faster response times and mitigating flood damage in the event of a natural disaster, including in dispatching personnel to affected areas and supporting appropriate decision-making in issuing evacuation advisories.

In recent years, local governments across Japan have grappled with the challenges of managing rivers that cause serious flood damage in the wake of frequent, highly localized heavy rain events. Smaller rivers flowing through urban areas in particular often experience sudden water level rises due to the impact of unpredictable, yet powerful rainstorms and typhoons. Year after year, the risk of significant flood damage occurring very rapidly represents a sporadic, yet increasingly severe threat, underlining an urgent need for enhanced flooding countermeasures.

As part of these countermeasures, water level predictions have been conducted for large rivers designated as at risk of flooding. For smaller rivers or areas where water level sensors have been newly installed, however, making accurate predictions has proven difficult until now due to a lack of sufficient water level data and the latest flow rate observation results.

To address this, Fujitsu and Fujitsu Laboratories have developed a mathematical model that can find optimal parameters when machine learning is used to train the model with past rainfall and water level data, creating functions based on the tank model concept, which expresses water discharge from a river basin within hydrology.

Using this model, the AI predicts future water levels based on data collected to present on rainfall and water level data along with forecasts for the next several hours transmitted to local governments by various meteorological organizations. The prediction model can also be optimized very quickly even following changes in the river environment or the introduction of new infrastructure. In cases like this, the model can simply be retrained using rainfall and water level data taken after any changes.

When a trial evaluating the accuracy of the new model was conducted by applying this technology to past data from smaller rivers managed by a certain local government, it was verified that when trained with data from just one rainfall water level increases could be predicted with consistent accuracy.

In addition, Fujitsu and Fujitsu Laboratories have conducted an evaluation comparing this technology with standard water level prediction methods that use such data as flow rate observations. The evaluation, conducted with the assistance of Professor Akira Kawamura of Tokyo Metropolitan University successfully confirmed that this technology can deliver equivalent or better accuracy.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

3 Comments
Login to comment

Good job!. This tech could save a lot of lives.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yes, this is a very beneficial technology. It could be used for rising sea levels as well if given the data. Small and large island countries are at risk.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Did it predict a real flood before it really happened ? If so, where and when ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites