Climate change adaptation strategies are an essential step - in preparing for extreme weather events, raising awareness of floods or heavy rain with risk communication and planning the necessary protective measures. As part of its digitalization strategy, the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility (MKUEM) of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate relies on the hydrodynamic modelling software viscloud from VRVis Zentrum für Virtual Reality und Visualisierung. viscloud will be used to develop a state-wide heavy rain and flood model based on a digital hydro-twin. It will continuously be adapted and optimized and can be used by different groups at the same time.
Innovative flood protection using a digital twin in Rhineland-Palatinate (RLP)
Climate Protection Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Katrin Eder, presents the roadmap for digital, forward-looking flood management at a press conference on November 17, 2023. Among other things, RLP is relying on the Vienna-based application viscloud from the COMET center VRVis. viscloud is currently used successfully in other countries and cities. The aim of the Rhineland-Palatinate digitization project is to develop a reliable forecasting and control model for the simulation of heavy rain and river flooding for the entire federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. To this end, VRVis is developing a digital twin of RLP for the MKUEM, which will be available to various user groups with different functions via server application. Through the use, the model will continue to grow: this means that the active participation of users with their different domain knowledge - from the general public to municipalities, water management engineering offices or the water management administration - will allow the model to become an interactive digital flood twin of RLP over time. Supra-local flood partnerships are also essential for this.
World's fastest flood simulator from VRVis supports flood prevention
The hydrodynamic modeling software viscloud is a highly successful Austrian product that has been researched and developed at VRVis for over a decade. viscloud allows simulations of floods and heavy rain for extremely large areas. The combination of simulation, integrated 3D visualization and the ability to compare scenarios and measures makes the software suitable for measures in climate change adaptation and flood protection. Live planning of Sponge City measures or blue-green infrastructure also benefits from the world's fastest simulation. The application can be used to calculate and visualize all measures and scenarios in seconds without any loss of accuracy.
"viscloud is a great example of how visual computing can be put at the service of sustainability," explains Gerd Hesina, Managing Director of VRVis. "We are glad to be able to support Rhineland-Palatinate with technology expertise from Austria in the form of our human-centered, digital solution."
More information about viscloud: www.vrvis.at/viscloud
Vienna, 17th November 2023
In a research project for Rhineland-Palatinate, VRVis is creating a cooperative digital hydro twin for the German federal state to support the development of protective measures against heavy rain and river flooding.
A high-resolution base model of the entire federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate makes heavy rain and flood simulations accessible to different user groups.