The urbanflood early warning system: sensors and coastal flood safety

The UrbanFlood early warning system (EWS) is an Internet-based system designed to monitor data from extremely large sensor networks in flood defences such as embankments, dikes, levees, and dams. The EWS uses real-time sensor information and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to quickly calculate the probability of dike failure and possible scenarios of dike breaching and predicted flood spreading. It presents results on interactive decision support systems that assist dike managers and public authorities during flood events. It can also be used for flood management policy development and for routine dike condition assessment. The Virtual Dike module can be used for advanced research into dike stability and failure mechanisms. To ensure that the EWS is aligned with user requirements the results of an international stakeholder consultation were used in the design of the system.