Dr WANG Shuo, Member of the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, has been awarded a funding of HK$470,350 in the 2022/23 Public Policy Research Funding Scheme for the project titled “Incorporating Spatial Heterogeneity of Rainfall Response to Climate Change into the Design of Slope Drainage Provisions in Hong Kong”.
The project aims to enhance the rainfall intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves currently adopted in Hong Kong by capturing and incorporating the changes in the spatial distribution of rainfall in response to climate change. The IDF curves are mathematical functions which show the relationship between the intensity, duration, and frequency of rainfall. The distribution of rainfall has been shown to be highly variable due to the intensifying global water cycle under global warming. The existing rain gauge-specific IDF curves adopted in Hong Kong are derived from measurements on rain gauges at predefined locations. The curves should therefore not be applied to nearby ungauged areas in Hong Kong; otherwise, the results can be unreliable or even misleading.
The project will create grid-based IDF curves, i.e., new curves with higher grid resolution, increase the accuracy and reliability of IDF curves. The new curves will be created based on urban climate simulation to better capture the heterogeneous spatial distribution of rainfall, thereby increasing the applicability of IDF curves for the ungauged areas in Hong Kong. The research outcomes will facilitate the policy-making in addressing the challenges of climate-induced extreme rainstorms, as well as the planning and development for climate-resilient and sustainable urban infrastructure in Hong Kong.
| Research Units | Research Institute for Land and Space |
|---|
