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The Hydrologic Role of Urban Green Space in Mitigating Flooding (Luohe, China)

Author

Listed:
  • Tian Bai

    (College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China)

  • Audrey L. Mayer

    (School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA)

  • William D. Shuster

    (Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

  • Guohang Tian

    (College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China)

Abstract

Even if urban catchments are adequately drained by sewer infrastructures, flooding hotspots develop where ongoing development and poor coordination among utilities conspire with land use and land cover, drainage, and rainfall. We combined spatially explicit land use/land cover data from Luohe City (central China) with soil hydrology (as measured, green space hydraulic conductivity), topography, and observed chronic flooding to analyze the relationships between spatial patterns in pervious surface and flooding. When compared to spatial–structural metrics of land use/cover where flooding was commonly observed, we found that some areas expected to remain dry (given soil and elevation characteristics) still experienced localized flooding, indicating hotspots with overwhelmed sewer infrastructure and a lack of pervious surfaces to effectively infiltrate and drain rainfall. Next, we used curve numbers to represent the composite hydrology of different land use/covers within both chronic flooding and dry (non-flooding) circles of 750 m diameter, and local design storms to determine the anticipated average proportion of runoff. We found that dry circles were more permeable (curve number (mean ± std. error) = 74 ± 2, n = 25) than wetter, flooded circles (curve number = 87 ± 1). Given design storm forcing (20, 50, 100 years’ recurrence interval, and maximum anticipated storm depths), dry points would produce runoff of 26 to 35 percent rainfall, and wet points of 52 to 61 percent of applied rainfall. However, we estimate by simulation that runoff reduction benefits would decline once infiltration-excess (Hortonian) runoff mechanisms activate for storms with precipitation rates in excess of an average of 21 mm/h, contingent on antecedent moisture conditions. Our spatial metrics indicate that larger amounts and patches of dispersed green space mitigate flooding risk, while aggregating buildings (roofs) and green space into larger, separate areas exacerbates risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Tian Bai & Audrey L. Mayer & William D. Shuster & Guohang Tian, 2018. "The Hydrologic Role of Urban Green Space in Mitigating Flooding (Luohe, China)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3584-:d:174275
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jonas Olsson & Lars Gidhagen & Valentin Gamerith & Günter Gruber & Holger Hoppe & Peter Kutschera, 2012. "Downscaling of Short-Term Precipitation from Regional Climate Models for Sustainable Urban Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(5), pages 1-22, May.
    2. Yomi Babatunde & Sui Pheng Low, 2015. "Construction Industry in China," Springer Books, in: Cross-Cultural Management and Quality Performance, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 31-43, Springer.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Wojciech Korbel & Filip Suchoń & Marta Łapuszek, 2021. "Water Dams of the Krakow Fortress: Potential of a Vanishing Heritage," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Bayarmaa Enkhbold & Kenichi Matsui, 2021. "Community Perceptions about Participating in Urban Park Establishment in Ulaanbaatar City, Mongolia," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-12, November.
    3. Bartosz Szeląg & Agnieszka Cienciała & Szymon Sobura & Jan Studziński & Juan T. García, 2019. "Urbanization and Management of the Catchment Retention in the Aspect of Operation of Storm Overflow: A Probabilistic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Gabriele Zabelskyte & Nadja Kabisch & Zaneta Stasiskiene, 2022. "Patterns of Urban Green Space Use Applying Social Media Data: A Systematic Literature Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, February.
    5. Wenbin Luo & Mingming Su, 2018. "A Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Urban Parkland Expansion in China and Practical Implications to Enhance Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Arunima Sarkar Basu & Francesco Pilla & Srikanta Sannigrahi & Rémi Gengembre & Antoine Guilland & Bidroha Basu, 2021. "Theoretical Framework to Assess Green Roof Performance in Mitigating Urban Flooding as a Potential Nature-Based Solution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-34, November.
    7. Yuanyuan Yang & Wenhui Zhang & Zhe Liu & Dengfeng Liu & Qiang Huang & Jun Xia, 2023. "Coupling a Distributed Time Variant Gain Model into a Storm Water Management Model to Simulate Runoffs in a Sponge City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-13, February.
    8. Peihao Song & Jianhui Guo & Enkai Xu & Audrey L. Mayer & Chang Liu & Jing Huang & Guohang Tian & Gunwoo Kim, 2020. "Hydrological Effects of Urban Green Space on Stormwater Runoff Reduction in Luohe, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Dikman Maheng & Assela Pathirana & Chris Zevenbergen, 2021. "A Preliminary Study on the Impact of Landscape Pattern Changes Due to Urbanization: Case Study of Jakarta, Indonesia," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-26, February.
    10. Irena Niedźwiecka-Filipiak & Justyna Rubaszek & Jerzy Potyrała & Paweł Filipiak, 2019. "The Method of Planning Green Infrastructure System with the Use of Landscape-Functional Units (Method LaFU) and its Implementation in the Wrocław Functional Area (Poland)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-23, January.

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