Brelsford et al. (2026) Multi‐Objective Urban Observational Strategies: A Risk‐Based Framework for Expanding Flood Sensor Networks

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-01
• Authors: Christa Brelsford, Ethan Coon, Mark Wang, Nathanael Rosenheim, Nicholas Brake, Liv Haselbach, Paola Passalacqua
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr041135

Research Groups

Not specified in the abstract.

Short Summary

This paper describes the expansion of a flood risk observation system in Southeast Texas to improve understanding of physical and socioeconomic exposure to hydrological hazards, introducing a new method to assess the spatial relevance of flood sensor observations and estimate the population served within their areas of information.

Objective

• To expand a flood risk observation system in Southeast Texas to enhance understanding of both physical and socioeconomic exposure to hydrological hazards at fine spatial scales, within a structured hazard-exposure-vulnerability risk framework.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Fine spatial scales, focusing on Southeast Texas and individual flood sensor areas of information.
• Temporal Scale: Not specified in the abstract.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: A structured hazard-exposure-vulnerability risk framework; a new approach for assessing the spatial extent of flood sensor observation relevance.
• Data sources: Flood sensor observations; downscaled socio-demographic data.

Main Results

• A new approach was developed to assess the spatial extent through which a flood sensor's observations can be assumed to be relevant.
• This approach was used to estimate the population served within each sensor's area of information by integrating downscaled socio-demographic data.

Contributions

• Development and expansion of a flood risk observation system that integrates both physical and socioeconomic exposure to hydrological hazards.
• Introduction of a novel method to define the spatial relevance of flood sensor data and quantify the population served by individual sensors using downscaled socio-demographic data.
• Enhancement of actionable scientific insights by assessing hydrological information within the context of both social and natural systems.

Funding

Not specified in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Brelsford2026MultiObjective,
  author = {Brelsford, Christa and Coon, Ethan and Wang, Mark and Rosenheim, Nathanael and Brake, Nicholas and Haselbach, Liv and Passalacqua, Paola},
  title = {Multi‐Objective Urban Observational Strategies: A Risk‐Based Framework for Expanding Flood Sensor Networks},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr041135},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr041135}
}