FloodVis: Visualization of Climate Ensemble Flood Projections in Virtual Reality

Abstract

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are leading to accelerating climate change, forcing politicians and administrations to take actions to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts, such as changes in flood regimes. For European countries, an increasing frequency and severity of extreme rainfall and flood events is expected. However, studies on future flood risks caused by climate change are associated with various uncertainties. The risk simulations are elaborate as they consider (i) climate data ensembles (temperature, precipitation), (ii) hydrological modeling (flood generation), (iii) hydrodynamic modeling (flood conveyance), and (iv) vulnerability modeling (damage assessment) involving a huge amount of data and their handling with Big Data methods. The results are difficult to understand for decision makers. Therefore, FloodVis offers a means of visualizing possible future flood risks in Virtual Reality (VR). The presentation of the results in a VR especially supports the user in understanding the complexity of the dynamics of the risk system enabling the feeling of presence. In FloodVis the user enters into a virtual surrounding to interact with the data, examine the temporal evolution, and compare alternative development pathways. Critical structures that require improved protection can be identified. The user can follow the inundation process in hourly resolution. We evaluated FloodVis through an online and offline user study on the context of whether VR can provide a better visualization of ensemble flood risk data and whether the sense of presence in VR can influence the decision making and help to raise awareness.