Heavy Rain Disaster Prevention Information System for Irrigation Ponds

Abstract

In response to frequent heavy rains and pond-floods recently, we have developed a disaster prevention information system to reduce flood damage to nearby residents and surrounding lands caused by irrigation pond overflows. The system utilizes a database of all ponds in each prefecture together with rain prediction data from each city accessed via the Internet. In the case of some high-risk ponds in a small watershed, the system automatically sends alerts of emergency- or flood-related information to PC's and cellular phones using GIS images with voice and E-mail, respectively. We developed the GIS on Microsoft Excel using MapWindow^TM GIS for ease of PC environment accessibility. Two case studies, a simulation using Fukui heavy rain data and in-situ observation during some heavy rains, made it clear that the system predicts the dangers of flooding and variations in water level. For practical use, this system needs an inexpensive instrument for measuring initial pond water level and transmitting it to the main system. Such an instrument is now being developed.