Flood Modeling and Simulation Using HEC-HMS/HEC-GeoHMS and GIS Tools for River Sindh-NW Himalayas; [Hochwassermodellierung und -simulation mit HEC-HMS/HEC-GeoHMS und GIS-Tools für den Fluss Sindh im NW-Himalaya]

The Sindh River is one of the most important water sources in Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is the chief Jhelum tributary flowing in the Kashmir Valley, with a significant impact to the country’s economy, production of hydroelectric power and irrigation for farming. This study aims to access the applicability, competence and aptness of Hydrologic modeling system (HEC-HMS) for forecasting flood in the River Sindh of Kashmir Valley, India. HEC-GeoHMS which is an extension ArcView GIS tool was used for processing digital elevation model (DEM) by terrain pre-processing, and basin processing. Historical observed data (1992–2018), collected from irrigation and flood control department Kashmir, was used for calibration and validation of model. Four peak flow years were selected for calibration (1995 and 1998) and validation (2014 and 2017). The competence of the model was assessed by relating the observed data with the simulation data of the chosen flood occasions. Performance indicator values, i.e., (Peak flow) Percentage error in Peak Flow (PEPF), Model Efficiency (ME), and correlation coefficient (R2)were all within the acceptable range. The efficiency of the calibrated and validated training model is 0.94–0.95, and 0.96–0.98, respectively, which is acceptable. Also, a strong relation was found between observed and simulated values of peak discharge with R2 ranging between 0.95–0.98 for calibration and validation periods. The overall result shows interest in applying a hydrological model for flood risk assessment of Sindh River, where the peak discharge simulation results are consistent with historical observation data. © 2022, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kartographie e.V.