Dynamic CA-ffé is a fast hybrid 1D/2D urban flood modelling framework designed for rapid simulation of urban flash floods while maintaining accuracy comparable to traditional hydrodynamic models.
The model integrates a static 2D cellular automata (CA) overland flow model with a dynamic 1D drainage network model, enabling efficient simulation of the interaction between surface runoff and stormwater drainage systems.
Compared with conventional hydrodynamic models that solve the full shallow water equations, Dynamic CA-ffé provides significantly faster simulations while maintaining reliable flood predictions. This makes it particularly suitable for:
- Rapid urban flood assessment
- Operational flood forecasting
- Large-scale scenario testing
- Real-time or near real-time flood modelling applications
Dynamic CA-ffé was introduced in the following research article:
Gholami Korzani, M., Chaudhary, A., Jamali, B., & Deletic, A. (2026).
Dynamic CA-ffé: A hybrid 1D/2D fast flood evaluation model for urban flash floods.
Journal of Hydrology, 665, 134762.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134762
The study presents a novel modelling framework that:
- Couples a static conceptual 2D flood model with a dynamic 1D drainage network model
- Maintains bi-directional interaction between surface flooding and drainage systems
- Produces accurate predictions of flood depth and extent
- Achieves simulation speeds more than an order of magnitude faster than traditional hydrodynamic models.
If you use Dynamic CA-ffé in research, publications, or applications, please cite the article.
Dr Maziar Gholami Korzani
Lecturer in Water Engineering
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia
Email: m.korzani@qut.edu.au
Please refer to the Wiki for:
- Installation instructions
- Setup and compilation guide
- User manual
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0).
For the full license text, see the LICENSE file in this repository or visit:
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html