Ambiental’s Flowroute software increases detail and accuracy
Flood risk assessment company Ambiental has developed a new method of flood modelling and mapping using cloud computing. This technology makes it possible to create national-scale flood risk data with increased detail and accuracy.
Ambiental’s Flowroute software uses multiplied computer power to assess various sources of flood risk simultaneously; including surface water (pluvial) flood risk as well as river and tidal risks. Rigorous validation tests using historical flood events show this new application of information technology provides a highly accurate way of evaluating flood risk for insurance and risk management purposes.
Cloud computing allows demanding software to run on rented space within clusters of powerful 64-bit ‘oct-core’ machines. Flowroute has been augmented and optimised to use the power of hundreds of computers without needing to physically own super-computing hardware in-house. Having access to this level of computational power means that a greater number of large simulations can be executed to create models that show flood risk right down to the level of individual floors of buildings.
Flood risk analysis is fundamentally difficult because many critical sets of data contain uncertainties and inaccuracies; such as topography and average rainfall figures. Ambiental uses cloud computing to address this problem by processing considerable amounts of information at the same time. For example, Flowroute™ can calculate multiple return periods in parallel to generate ‘event sets’. Ambiental’s final models present the details needed for better pricing and risk management decision-making.
This technology also offers increased flexibility and value for money. Ambiental’s clients will soon be able to run computationally-demanding flood models in-house for the first time without requiring additional IT investment. As cloud computing reduces capital costs associated with hardware and maintenance, significant cost savings can therefore be made and passed on to clients.
Managing Director of Ambiental Dr. Justin Butler said: "Harnessing the power of cloud computing is helping Ambiental to create ever more detailed and accurate flood models and mapping data for our clients in insurance and risk management. Having access to an almost limitless store of raw processing power at a fraction of the cost means that we can deliver better data, faster, and more cost effectively over very large areas. Key issues such as flood model uncertainty can now be addressed head-on by underwriters and risk managers to optimise insurance pricing and capital allocation requirements. Computationally-intensive probabilistic modelling approaches need no longer be intractable for non-specialist users with limited IT budgets."
