One of the essential activities in flood risk management is the collection of various data and the implementation of various types of measurements in order to better manage flood risk or water management in general.

Data collecting activities include collecting:

  • documenting (photographs, videos) the entire river basin and the watercourses themselves;
  • LIDAR surveying of the terrain or entire river basins or wider areas;
  • data on topography, geography, river basin hydrography and similar;
  • documenting (photographs, videos) the extent of floods and recorded depths of water upon the occurrence of individual flood events;
  • data on previous floods from historical sources, almanacs and similar;
  • data on activities that are permitted or already implemented (built) on individual parts of the watercourses; etc.

Measurements activities include:

  • measuring transverse and longitudinal cross-sections (profiles) of watercourses;
  • taking hydrometric measurements on individual watercourse profiles to make so-called flow curves (the flow curve shows the single- or multi-meaning relationship between the depth/surface/water level and the flow of water in a concrete cross-section of a watercourse);
  • monitoring and recording water levels and flows and other interesting values on individual profiles of individual watercourses (regular hydrological monitoring), etc.

The results of data collection and measurements are used for various purposes within the overall flood risk management process; above all, they are used for so-called hydrological and hydraulic modelling, preparing analyses, and preparing and developing flood prevention measures.