Investigating the impact of woodland placement and percentage cover on flood peaks in an upland catchment using spatially distributed TOPMODEL

• DOI: 10.1111/jfr3.12977
• Publication Date: 2024-02-28T04:15:11Z
• Authors: F. Monger; D. V. Spracklen; M. J. Kirkby; T. Willis
• Keywords: modelling; flood mitigation; TA495; rainfall‐runoff; TC530-537; natural flood management; Disasters and engineering; River protective works. Regulation. Flood control

Abstract Woodlands can reduce downstream flooding, but it is not well known how the extent and distribution of woodland affects reductions in peak flow. We used spatially distributed TOPMODEL to simulate flow during a 1 50 year storm event for range broadleaf scenarios across 2.6 km 2 catchment Northern England. Woodland reduced by 2.6%–15.3% depending on spatial cover. Cross slope riparian resulted larger flow, 4.9% 3.3% 10‐percentage point increase cover respectively, compared 2.7% reduction randomly located catchment. Our results demonstrate that increased flows large suggest targeted placement maximise effectiveness natural flood management interventions.