Abstract
This paper describes the main outcomes of the first operational flood forecasting and early warning system (FFEWS) implemented in Turkey across a transboundary river basin system, Maritza–Tundja–Arda, which is crossing the borders of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. The floods experienced within Turkish territory (mainly the city of Edirne) necessitated integration of advanced technological tools into the site works implemented by administrators and decision makers in Bulgaria and Turkey. As such, FFEWS has been integrated into the decision processes of the General Directorate of State Hydraulics Works of Turkey, who is the main regulatory government agency in charge of flood planning and management services and solutions in Turkey. A close technical and administrative collaboration basis was also established with the counterpart organization in Bulgaria, National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology. This paper further defines a structured mechanism for estimation of extreme discharges for different exceedance probabilities at various locations along the Maritza River and the tributaries of Tundja and Arda Rivers. The estimated discharges were used to define and evaluate alarm levels at water-level forecast locations in the Maritza River FFEWS.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott MB, Refsgaard JC (eds) (1996) Distributed hydrological modelling. Kluwer Academic Press, The Netherlands
Angelidis P (2010) Management of upstream dams and flood protection of the transboundary river Evros/Maritza. Water Resour Manag 24(11):2467–2484
Angelidis P, Mystakidis G, Lalikidou S, Hrissanthou V, Kotsovinos N (2010) Computation of hydrographs in Evros river basin. Eur Water 31:33–42
Artinyan E, Habets F, Noilhan J, Ledoux E, Dimitrov D, Martin E, Le Moigne P (2008) Modelling the water budget and the riverflows of the Maritsa basin in Bulgaria. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 12:21–37
Balabanova S, Vassilev V (2010) Creation of flood hazard maps. Balwois, Republic of Macedonia
DHI (1999) NAM model documentation, Denmark
DHI (2008a) MIKE 11: a modelling system for rivers and channels-reference manual, Denmark
DHI (2008b) MIKE FLOOD WATCH user’s guide, Denmark
DHI (2010a) Capacity improvement for flood forecasting and flood control in the TR–BG CBC region, final report
DHI (2010b) Capacity improvement for flood forecasting and flood control in the TR–BG CBC region, extreme value analysis, final report
Dogan A, Aksu H, Sezen N (2010) Hydrometeorological monitoring network in Turkey. Balwois, Republic of Macedonia
EGIS-BCEOM (2008) Capacity improvement for flood forecasting in the BG–TR CBC region: technical assistance for flood forecasting and early warning system for Maritza and Tundja rivers, final report
Fotopoulos F, Makropoulos C, Mimikou MA (2010) Flood forecasting in transboundary catchments using the open modeling interface. Environ Model Softw 25(12):1640–1649
Hartnack J, Madsen H (2001) Data assimilation in river flow modeling. 4th DHI Software Conference, Denmark
Jacobs (2007) Support to the General Directorate of state hydraulic works for capacity improvement for flood forecasting and flood control in the TR–BG CBC region under the 2006 CBC program between Turkey and Bulgaria, feasibility report
Refsgaard JC, Knudsen J (1997) Operational validation and intercomparison of different types of hydrological models. Water Resour Res 32(7):2189–2202
Roelevink A, Udo J, Koshinchanov G, Balabanova S (2010) Flood forecasting system for the Maritsa and Tundzha rivers. Balwois, Republic of Macedonia
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (2009) Transboundary flood risk management: experiences from the UNECE region. New York
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (2007) Formulating a basin flood management plan: a tool for integrated flood management, APFM technical document No. 6
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank to the technical and administrative staff of DSI Regional Directorate in Edirne, NIMH in Bulgaria and Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI), who have provided valuable contributions during project execution.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tuncok, I.K. Transboundary river basin flood forecasting and early warning system experience in Maritza River basin between Bulgaria and Turkey. Nat Hazards 75, 191–214 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1315-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1315-0