Student talks: “Innovative, intriguing, surprising and future-oriented”
- Cas d’utilisation
Paulina Rybka, an MSc in Engineering graduate from Wrocław University of Science and Technology in Poland, won second place in the prestigious diploma thesis competition organized by Stowarzyszenie Hydrologów Polskich (Association of Polish Hydrologists), using Scalgo Live in her work!
Paulina’s thesis focused on investigating measures for increasing the retention potential of the chosen area and improving its resilience against climate challenge. Her work identified possible development directions for an urban area, ensuring that it remains a livable place in the future.
“Using Scalgo Live was a lot of fun and made a great impression on me. The platform is intuitive to work with, especially for people who normally use ArcMap and QGIS tools. The webinars available on the Scalgo Live website were helpful in carrying out the work”, says Paulina.
We asked Paulina what about Scalgo Live, in particular, was useful for her research. She explained that the platform provided data and analyses to identify surface water and terrain conditions within a catchment area, enabling her to understand problems and explore solutions. Further, being able to create scenarios and look up flow paths and water accumulation was valuable. She also admits that she appreciates the fact that Scalgo Live is a web-based platform, so she did not have to install anything on her computer nor manage data since everything was already in place!
“Using Scalgo Live was a lot of fun and made a great impression on me. The platform is intuitive to work with, especially for people who normally use ArcMap and QGIS tools."
“I used the tools in Scalgo Live to apply retention volumes that can collect rainwater and meltwater. The results of the work were immediately analysed and automatically saved in Scalgo Live”, says Paulina.
Paulina continues: “Scalgo Live is innovative, intriguing, surprising and future-oriented!”
What did you use Scalgo Live for in your master's thesis?
I used Scalgo Live in my work to determine the retention potential of a selected area of Wrocław, specifically one part of the Śródmieście district, which is often flooded during storms and heavy rainfall. I wanted to identify the problematic areas, determine how much water storage was needed to reduce flooding, and test whether blue-green solutions could solve some of the issues.
Paulina worked in a specific neighbourhood catchment in the Śródmieście district.
How did you go about doing this analysis?
For this thesis, I created three scenarios for the area.
The first scenario did not assume surface infiltration; instead, it assumed complete impermeability of the terrain. After applying precipitation, I could read the potential volumes of water accumulated in individual partial catchments and then for the entire catchment area. This allowed me to identify potentially problematic places.
The second scenario included surface runoff coefficients. The values of the runoff coefficients were set based on the literature, depending on the land cover classes.
Land cover classes within the extent of analyzed catchment with implemented blue-green solutions and hard surfaces with considered infiltration capacity (marked in pink color) + Flash Flood Map result on the top with applied 10 mm of rain.
The third scenario assumed the operation of blue-green infrastructure, for example, rain gardens. With knowledge of potentially problematic areas and their runoff volumes, I was able to implement targeted solutions to slow runoff and retain rainwater, taking into account the available space and terrain characteristics within the analyzed watershed.
What did you conclude in your thesis?
I analysed the area using various rain amounts to show how much blue-green infrastructure could potentially retain surface water and reduce flooding. The result of the thesis was an initial plan for how blue-green infrastructure could be implemented in this urban neighbourhood to help minimise existing and future flood risk, but I also believe that the method carried out could be applicable in other locations.
I proved that the implementation of blue-green infrastructure had a very positive impact on managing surface water in this area.
Example of results from Paulina’s thesis. Above: The area with 70 mm of rain without blue-green infrastructure. Below: The reduction in surface water flooding after implementing blue-green infrastructure - see flooding extents comparisons (purple color refers to flooding extents displayed on first picture).
Are you studying or working at a university?
The Scalgo Live educational license is freely available for research and study purposes. Contact us at info@scalgo.com for more information.
