EFFS: The European Flood Forecasting System project

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The EFFS project aims at developing a prototype of an European flood forecasting system for 4-10 days in advance. This system provides daily information on potential floods for large rivers such as the rivers Rhine and Oder as well as flash floods in small basins. This flood forecasting system can be used as a pre-warning system to water-authorities that already have a 0-3 day forecasting system.

The system can also provide flood warnings for catchments that at present do not have a forecasting system (Eastern-European countries). The framework of the system will allow incorporation of both detailed models for specific basins as well as a broad scale model for entire Europe. Once designed, the prototype will be tested and evaluated for several months.

Together with end-users, channels to disseminate the forecasts and their uncertainties will be developed.

THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE:

• To take advantage of currently available Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (4 - 10 days) to produce reliable flood warnings beyond the current flood warning period of approximately 3 days.
  
• To design a Medium-Range Flood Forecasting System for Europe that will produce flood warnings on the basis of the Medium Range Weather Forecasts.
  
• To produce flood forecasts in regions where at present no flood forecasts are made on the basis of the newly developed system.