Francisco Febronio Pena
Email: fpena023@fiu.edu
RFA: Fate & Transport
Research: 2D hydraulic modeling, urban flood risk, floodplain terrain analysis, fluvial geomorphology
Advisers: Assefa Melesse, Fernando Nardi
Joined CREST CAChE in Summer 2019
Most coastal urban flood models are run separately, failing to capture a full understanding of the interaction between physical variables, urban floodplain, and soil infiltration with the overland flow and storm surge flooding to produce accurate flood risk assessments. My research aims to address this issue by developing state-of-the-art case studies using a quasi-2D hydraulic model (FLO-2D) to integrate the four main components during extreme rainfall events: surface runoff, storm drain systems, coastal surge and groundwater effect. The city of Palermo (Italy) and Miami (USA) will act as pilot study cities to depict the flood flow propagation dynamics in coastal urban environments.