GeoSmart adds Groundwater Flood Risk Map to Ambiental’s Flood Model

GeoSmart Information and Ambiental have announced that they have incorporated the GeoSmart GW5 Groundwater Flood Risk Map into Ambiental’s UKFloodMap4™.

Covering 100% of the UK, with a full range of return periods, and integrating the most up-to-date river flow and rainfall data, UKFloodMap4™ provides the most detailed flood maps currently available for the UK, greatly improving the way insurers assess flood risk at the individual address/building level.

Groundwater flooding represents one of the most complex areas of flood risk modelling and is more difficult to predict than fluvial, pluvial (surface water) and coastal flood risk sources. It is one of the three largest infrastructural risks facing the UK in future years*, together with climate change and shrink/swell subsidence. In response to this GeoSmart’s Groundwater Flood Model delivers a comprehensive dataset that addresses wider groundwater flooding risks, using detailed algorithms and predictive toolsets.

The GeoSmart Groundwater Flood Model has been integrated within Ambiental’s UKFloodMap4™ product suite delivering address level UK wide flood models for multi-peril flood mapping. Ambiental will be licenced to incorporate the data and act as a reseller on behalf of GeoSmart.

Groundwater flooding can often produce significant losses due to the long duration of the phenomenon. By ascribing a return period probability to groundwater flooding this enables more accurate risk pricing, loss modelling and accumulation control by ensuring a consistent approach to multi-source flood risk rating.

The interrelationship between soil geology, topography and the built environment challenges the more traditional models. In the context of the Flood Re scheme implementation insurers need more detail on all risks, so as to better specify risk premiums and technical pricing, not just from rivers and surface water, but from flooding in all its forms.

Stuart Pearce, Managing Director of GeoSmart Information Ltd said:
“We are delighted to be working with Ambiental to enhance their flood modelling to their insurance clients. The Groundwater Flood Risk Map marks a new chapter in holistic flood risk analysis, ensuring an ever more accurate risk assessment and greater clarity for property and infrastructure owners.”

 

Justin Butler, Managing Director of Ambiental said:
Our clients are demanding ever more granular detail in order to make critical business decisions, both in terms of refining flood underwriting strategies and in response to FloodRE.  Groundwater flooding can significantly exacerbate surface water flood risk, and flood mapping datasets currently on the market do not consider this risk explicitly. We recognised GeoSmart’s clear market leading expertise on hydrogeology modelling and the incorporation of the new Groundwater Flood Risk Map Dataset further enhances our unique value proposition and reputation as leading flood modelling experts.

*Source: Indicators to assess the exposure of critical infrastructure in England to current and projected climate hazards. HR Wallingford – April 2014.