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debris flow
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NOAA/USGS DEMONSTRATION
FLASH-FLOOD AND DEBRIS-FLOW
EARLY WARNING SYSTEM
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link to Demonstration Warning System Operation | Links | Research |
Project Description |
Once the smoke clears from a wildfire, the danger is not over!! Other hazards, such as flash floods and debris flows, now become the focus. Areas recently burned by wildfires are particularly susceptible to flash floods and debris flows during rainstorms. Just a short period of moderate rainfall on a burn scar can lead to flash floods and debris flows. Rainfall that is normally absorbed by vegetation can run off almost instantly. This causes creeks and drainage areas to flood much sooner during a storm, and with more water, than normal. |
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November 2005 - School Burn Area near Ventura, CA |
 Additionally, the soils in a burn scar are highly erodible so flood waters can contain significant amounts of mud, boulders, and vegetation. The powerful force of rushing water, soil, and rock, both within the burned area and downstream, can destroy culverts, bridges, roadways, and structures, and can cause injury or death if care is not taken. |
| October 2005 - Harvard Burn Area near Burbank, CA |
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| Demonstration Warning System Operation |
| The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have established a demonstration flash-flood and debris-flow early-warning system for recently burned areas in southern California. The demonstration project covers eight counties within southern California. The National Weather Service (NWS) employs multiple forecasting and monitoring tools that identifies when both flash floods and debris flows are likely to occur based on comparisons between radar precipitation estimates and/or real-time rain gage accumulations and established rainfall intensity-duration |
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| threshold values. Advisory Outlooks, Watches and Warnings are disseminated to emergency management personnel through the NWS Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS).
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October 18, 2005 - Debris flow that impacted Country Club Drive in Burbank, CA below the Harvard Burn Area |
| USGS Intensive Research Area |
 An Intensive Research Area (IRA) was proposed in USGS Circular 1283 as a research component of the Prototype Warning System to establish studies that could lead to advancements in the operation of the Prototype. The IRA is intended to provide links between detailed precipitation measurements and hillslope and channel monitoring that will lead to advancement in the understanding of post-fire runoff and erosion processes, and the development of flash floods and debris flows. This enhanced knowledge is expected to assist in the development of more refined warning models. In 2008, the burn area near Goleta was selected for the location of the IRA. The adjacent map shows the location of the Gap Fire burn area. |
In addition to the USGS research within the IRA, NOAA has provided the temporary use (December 2008 - February 2009) of a truck mounted Shared Mobile Atmospheric Research and Teaching Radar (SMART-R) located at Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) to assist with data acquisition for research needs.
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