Improving Preparedness and Risk Management for Flash Floods and debris flow events (IMPRINTS)

The aim or ultimate objective of IMPRINTS is to contribute to the reduction of loss of life and economic damage through the improvement of the preparedness and the operational risk management of flash flood (FF) and debris flow (DF) generating events, as well as contributing to sustainable development through reducing damages to the environment. To achieve this ultimate objective, the project is oriented to produce methods and tools to be used by practitioners of the emergency agencies and utility companies responsible for the management of FF and DF risks and associated effects. Impacts of future changes, including climatic, land use and socioeconomic changes will be also analysed, in order to provide guidelines for mitigation and adaptation measures.
Specifically, the consortium will develop three methodologies of different complexities to provide FF and DF forecasting and warnings: (i) an early warning FF and DF system based on simplified calculations, (ii) an integrated probabilistic forecasting FF and DF system, and (iii) a probabilistic rule-based forecasting system adapted to the operational use by practitioners. These systems will be tested on five selected flash flood prone areas, two located in mountainous catchments in the Alps, and three in Mediterranean catchments. One major result of the project will be a prototype of the operational platform including the tools and methodologies developed under the project. This prototype will be designed under the premise of its ultimate commercialisation and use worldwide.