Research project

Unnatural dynamics of flood deposits in built environments

Research groups:

Landscape Dynamics and Ecology
Lead researchers:

Dr Eli Lazarus
Research funder:

Leverhulme Trust
Status:

Not active

Project overview

Population and land-use pressures on coastal and river floodplains means that flood events deposit large volumes of sediment and debris in built environments. These "unnatural" flood deposits are ubiquitous, delay emergency response, and are costly to clean up – but we understand less about them than we do about their natural counterparts. This project explores how spatial characteristics of built environments control the shape, scale, movement, and distribution of flood deposits. We measure and model flood deposits in built and non-built environments to quantify and explain their differences. This project is a formative step in transdisciplinary research into how natural phenomena interact with and impact built environments.