ARE WE RESILIENT KIDS

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Here comes the big bad
flood!Since the mid-1900s, scientists ability
to predict the arrival of extremely wet or dry
weather has improved for many reasons.
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1 Satellite photographs Satellite images show
weather systems developing long before they make
landfall - often giving weather forecasters
several days notice of heavy rain arriving.
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2. Soil moisture monitoringIf soil is wet from
previous storms then new rain cannot soak in and
will flow fast over the land to the river -
making the flooding even worse.
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2. Soil moisture monitoringData can be sent from
the monitoring equipment by radio - keeping
scientists up to date with whats happening.
Photo courtesy of www.campbellsci.co.uk
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3. MappingMaps show how steep the land is. This
gives scientists an idea of how quickly rain will
flow downhill. Geology maps show what rocks are
present - and if water can soak in.
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4. Hydrograph calculationsOnce they know how
much rain is coming, how steep slopes are
and how wet soils already are,
scientists can compute hydrographs to show how
high the river level is likely to get.
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• Flood warnings in the UK are issued by the
  Environment Agency, who employ many of the UKs
  top river scientists
• Visit their web site and look at flood warnings
  at http//www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/f
  lood/floodwarning/
• The Environment Agency works closely with the
  UKs weather experts, such as the Hadley Centre
  and the Met Office
• Visit the Met Office and look at weather warnings
  at http//www.metoffice.gov.uk/