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SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF FLOODS IN SINGAPORE FROM 1950 TO 2015

XU YUTING
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Abstract
Singapore experiences frequent floods owing to its tropical location and low-lying terrain. In the past, floods have been studied in individual disciplines for differing interests and purposes. Uncertainty prevails in how climate change and urbanisation have altered the spatial and temporal patterns of flood occurrences over the decades. In this study, a flood database has been constructed for the period of 1950 – 2015 using a wide range of documentary data sources. Based on the data collected, this paper adopts a spatiotemporal analysis framework to study the temporal and spatial patterns of floods. In total, 266 rainfall-related flood events occurred within the study period, causing 1109 unique flood incidents. Floods have increased significantly in the recent years. Seasonal distribution of floods generally follow that of seasonal rainfall amount. A growing percentage of floods in typically drier months have occurred in the recent decade. Spatial analysis was conducted on GIS platform. Flood distribution in Singapore is non-homogeneous and non-stationary. The central and south of Singapore show the densest floods over the entire study period, a situation attributed to long history of urbanisation and poor drainage. Recently, floods have come to affect a larger spatial extent. Mapping of flood incidents shows a sprawling pattern with emerging flood hotspots outside the flood-prone regions. Despite inherent issues of data accuracy, this study demonstrates that spatiotemporal flood analysis using documentary data can reveal valuable insights on how flood patterns have evolved over space and time. The resultant patterns capture the influence some of the key factors that may have an impact on flood occurrences and nature of floods. With the rise of big data and data analytics, capability of spatiotemporal analysis and the use of flood database can be enhanced expanded to provide more accurate assessment of patterns and changing nature of floods.
Keywords
Floods, Singapore, spatial pattern, temporal pattern, database, Geographic Information System (GIS)
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GEOGRAPHY
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Date
2017
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