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NASA, IFC Event in Calmar CANCELLED

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Updated, June 12, 11:30 AM 

Due to severe weather forecasts, the NASA and Iowa Flood Center public outreach event scheduled for Wednesday, June 12 at 7 p.m. in Room 104, Wilder Business Center, on the Northeast Iowa Community College campus has been CANCELLED.

Representatives from NASA and the Iowa Flood Center will remain stationed at research sites to track the storm and monitor instrumentation. 

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The public and media are invited to meet representatives from NASA and the Iowa Flood Center at an outreach event at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, in Room 104 of the Wilder Business Center on the Northeast Iowa Community College campus in Calmar, Iowa.

This spring, NASA and Iowa Flood Center researchers have deployed state-of-the-art instruments across eastern Iowa to collect ground data on precipitation as part of the IFloodS (Iowa Flood Studies) campaign. A number of these instruments are currently located in the Turkey River watershed, including a weather radar on the southern edge of Calmar, another near Elkader, and numerous rain gauges and soil moisture probes throughout the watershed. The project is part of NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, an international satellite mission that will set a new standard for global precipitation measurements from space.

RainGaugeField

Rain gauges (similar to those shown above) are deployed across the Turkey River watershed in northeast Iowa for the IFloodS campaign to calibrate NASA’s new satellite–based rainfall measurement system.

“We’re trying to figure out how well our satellites estimate rainfall,” says Walt Petersen, GPM ground validation scientist at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. “This study is unique in that it takes space-borne observations, it takes ground-based observations, and it brings those things into a modeling framework that should further our ability to predict flooding.”

Petersen will be one of the speakers at the outreach event, which is open to the public. He will be joined by Iowa Flood Center Director Witold Krajewski, based at the University of Iowa. Krajewski, who was instrumental in bringing the NASA team to Iowa, says the project will likely benefit the people of Iowa in a very real way.

“Our hope is that with all that information, we can really improve our flood forecasting models,” Krajewski explains.

Iowa Flood Center Deploys Rain Gauges

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Jim Niemeier installs an Iowa Flood Center rain gauge and soil moisture platform in NE Iowa.

This time of year, nothing interests farmers — and most other Iowans as well — more than rainfall. Nearly every conversation you hear includes some version of “Is it going to rain today?” Or if it has rained recently, you’ll hear “How much did we get?”

The Iowa Flood Center (IFC) is helping answer the second question with a high level of accuracy, thanks to new state-of-the-art technology. IFC researchers have designed and installed 20 state-of-the-art rain gauges with soil moisture probes in the Turkey River watershed in northeast Iowa, with a few more gauges in the South Fork of the Iowa River watershed (Franklin, Hamilton, and Hardin counties) and the Walnut Creek watershed (Jasper County).

“Rain is critical to so many human activities,” says Witold Krajewski, director of the Iowa Flood Center. “These instruments offer access to real-time information that people need.”

IFIS_raingaugenetwork

A total of twenty-eight Iowa Flood Center rain gauge and soil moisture platforms were deployed across three Iowa watersheds in April 2013.

In addition to measuring precipitation totals, the new gauges also measure moisture and temperature of the soil. The units are solar powered and transmit data via a built-in cell modem. The information is displayed on IFIS with a user-friendly graphic interface.

To view real-time precipitation, soil temperature, and soil moisture data from the instruments, visit IFIS:

  1. Click ‘Launch’.
  2. Choose the State Overview option on the dashboard and click ‘Launch’.
  3. In the upper right corner of the screen, hover your mouse over the DATA RESOURCES tab and click the box next to Rain/Soil Moisture Gauges.
  4. Click on a gauge icon to get more details from that location.
  5. From here, you can click to view additional rain gauge or soil moisture info for the site.
In IFIS, users can view real-time data from the gauges including soil moisture and soil temperature at depths of 2", 4" 8" and 20" near the gauge.

In IFIS, users can view real-time data from the gauges including soil moisture and soil temperature at depths of 2″, 4″ 8″ and 20″ near the gauge.

The new deployment of rain gauges is part of the Iowa Flood Studies project, also known as IFloodS, undertaken this spring in partnership with NASA. IFloodS researchers are collecting ground data across Eastern Iowa as part of NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission, an international satellite mission that will set a new standard for global precipitation measurements from space.

Based at IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering at the University of Iowa, the Iowa Flood Center provides accurate, state-of-the-science-based information to help decision-makers, individuals, and communities better understand their flood risks.

$1.5M Grants to Benefit Residents of Three Iowa Watersheds

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The Iowa Flood Center has announced that the Soap and Chequest Creek, Turkey River, and Upper Cedar River watersheds will each receive a $1.5 million grant for construction of watershed improvement projects to support flood mitigation, such as farm ponds, wetlands, and floodplain easements in a targeted area of the watershed. The grant, provided with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is part of the Iowa Watersheds Project, an effort of the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa.

Phase II IWP watersheds

Watershed improvement projects will be constructed in the Soap and Chequest Creek, Upper Cedar, and Turkey River watersheds.

In the coming months, local watershed boards, with the help of the Iowa Flood Center (IFC), will identify a subwatershed in which to target the grant funding, with initial project construction expected to begin in 2014. Professor Larry Weber, an IFC researcher and director of IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering, says his hope is that the Iowa Watersheds Projects will improve our understanding of what works best in each watershed, and which strategies can be scaled up for implementation throughout the state.

IFC teams are currently conducting hydrologic assessments of the watersheds to help researchers understand how water moves in the basin, and where constructed projects will have the greatest impact on reducing downstream flood damages.

IFC researchers have been working with local partners in each watershed to learn about the basins and their residents, to share information, and to build a consensus about future projects. Weber says that building strong working relationships is crucial to the project. “Landowner participation and watershed engagement are the most important elements,” Weber says.

Since its establishment in 2009, the Iowa Flood Center has significantly improved the state’s level of flood preparedness.  Based at IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering at the University of Iowa, the IFC provides accurate, state-of-the-science-based information to help decision-makers, individuals, and communities better understand their flood risks.  The IFC’s primary objective is to improve flood monitoring and prediction capabilities in Iowa, while also developing strategies to help mitigate and prevent flood damage in the future.

IFloodS – Turkey River Watershed

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Iowa Flood Center Rain Gauge

Iowa Flood Center rain gauge with soil moisture probe

IFloodS

The Iowa Flood Center is collaborating with NASA in the spring of 2013 on a project called Iowa Flood Studies or IFloodS – a project to enhance the understanding of precipitation events worldwide.

Turkey River Watershed Study Area

The Turkey River Watershed has been identified as the study area for a uniform deployment of 15-20 rain gauges with soil moisture probes throughout the watershed.

Site Selection

The Iowa Flood Center is seeking assistance from private landowners and public entities to find sites within the watershed to deploy the rain gauges for this project. Proposed locations must meet the following site requirements.

To suggest a site to locate a rain gauge in the Turkey River Watershed this spring, please complete the form below:

[gravityform id=”3″ name=”Turkey River Watershed IFloodS Sites” title=”false” description=”false”]

 

Contact

If you have additional questions regarding this project and site selection, please contact:

Sara Steussy, Iowa Flood Center
319-384-1729

Flood Inundation Map: Elkader

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A new web-based flood preparedness tool developed at the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) can help Elkader residents know what to expect from the Turkey River at times of high flows.

The new Elkader flood inundation maps are available to the public on the Internet through the Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS), an interactive Google Maps-based online application.  Homeowners and business owners will now be able to see how predicted flood levels might affect their individual properties.

Witold Krajewski, IFC director, says improving flood preparedness is one of the IFC’s key goals. “This is an opportunity for us to produce research that is useful and meaningful for Iowans. Our high-resolution web-based flood inundation maps illustrate where floodwaters will go under different conditions.”

He adds, “We believe this extra measure of preparedness can save property, resources, and lives.”

With these maps, Iowa Flood Center researchers are taking the guesswork out of future flood scenarios for Elkader and several other Iowa communities. When floods struck Iowa in the past, uncertainty was part of the problem. Property owners were unsure if projected floodwaters would reach them, and how they ought to prepare.

IFC engineers use bathymetric surveys of the riverbed to determine the shape of the channel and aerial LiDAR (laser radar) data. With this information, researchers can create very detailed maps of the streambed and floodplain to illustrate where floodwaters will go under different conditions.

The detailed flood inundation maps are available online for a number of Iowa communities including Cedar Rapids, Charles City, Des Moines, Elkader, Hills, Iowa City, Mason City, and Waterloo/Cedar Falls. Additional communities will be mapped in the future.

To use the interactive online maps, use the Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS). Launch IFIS, and click “Flood Maps” to view the inundation maps.

The Iowa Flood Center is part of IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering, a unit of the UI College of Engineering. The IFC was created in 2009 in the aftermath of the historic 2008 Iowa floods and is supported by state appropriations to improve flood monitoring and prevention in Iowa.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sara Steussy, Iowa Flood Center, 319-384-1729, sara-steussy@uiowa.edu

Minimizing the Impact of Flooding

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Iowa Flood Center selects four watersheds for Iowa Watersheds Project

UI News Service, May 9, 2012

Agricultural Drainage _ Watershed

The Iowa Flood Center will work with four watersheds in Iowa on projects that help minimize the impact of flooding. UI News Service file photo by Tom Jorgensen.

The Iowa Flood Center and IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering (IIHR) at the University of Iowa have announced the selection of four watersheds for the initial phase of the Iowa Watersheds Project.

The selected entities and respective watersheds include:

–Clayton County for the Turkey River.
–Dallas County for the Middle/South Raccoon River.
–Davis County for Soap Creek and Chequest Creek.
–Floyd County for the Upper Cedar River.

The selected watersheds will partner with the Iowa Flood Center and IIHR on a multi-year project to monitor, plan, and implement watershed projects aimed at reducing the adverse impacts of flooding in Iowa. Specific goals of the watershed projects include:

–Maximizing soil water holding capacity from precipitation.
–Minimizing severe soil erosion and sand deposition during floods.
–Managing water runoff in uplands under saturated soil moisture conditions.
–Reducing and mitigating structural and nonstructural flood damage.

In the initial phase of the project, researchers at the Iowa Flood Center and IIHR will work with local entities to complete a detailed hydrologic assessment of each watershed that will identify areas where the implementation of flood mitigation projects is most likely to reduce downstream flood damages. Funds will be available during the second phase of the project for the design and construction of watershed projects in identified areas of the watersheds.

Specific watershed mitigation projects for this study will be determined in the second phase. Potential projects may include water storage structures, flood plain restoration, buffer strip installation and enhancement, advanced tile drainage systems, and flood easement acquisition.

The constructed watershed improvement projects will be monitored by researchers throughout the study and evaluated at completion to demonstrate their impact and effectiveness. The results from the Iowa Watershed Projects will provide critical information to guide the implementation and design of additional watershed projects across the state of Iowa.

Funding for the Iowa Watershed Projects is provided through the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Relief allocation and is available only to the 85 counties (or cities within those counties) declared federal disaster areas during the 2008 flood.

Visit the Iowa Watersheds Project page for additional information and to view a map of the selected watersheds.

Turkey River Meeting

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Iowa Flood Center personnel traveled to Elkader, Iowa to discuss flooding on the Turkey River.