Providing Validation Data for Numerical Codes dealing with Unsteady Urban Flooding

Multiplication of extreme weather events around the world increases the risk of hydraulic structure failure, which could lead to rapid flooding in urban or industrial areas. However, the propagation of a flood wave over a space containing macro-roughness, such as buildings, is complex and remains difficult to predict. This study aims to characterize the dominant physical phenomena involved in the propagation of a flood wave in the presence of emerged obstacles. Thus, this paper provides experimental data sets that can be used to verify numerical models that are strongly dependent on calibration coefficients. Precisely, this paper describes experiments of a flood wave propagating over various macro-roughness configurations carried out in a rectangular horizontal open channel. The flow conditions are achieved in the flume by the very fast opening of a gate holding a volume of water. To show the impact of the obstacles on the behavior of the flow, different obstacle configurations were investigated for comparison. The experimental datasets provide complete water hydrographs upstream and downstream of the breach. The propagation of the wave front and the variation of the water depth are measured by both conductive and acoustic gauges, and the free surface velocity profile is obtained using the optical LSPIV technique.