emzu/Kigali-Global-Flood-Models

Notebooks and data for auditing hydrometeorological observations and global flood model performance in Kigali, Rwanda. # Kigali-Global-Flood-Models Reliable flood models are critical for early warning systems in data-scarce urban environments. This repository contains data and Jupyter notebooks supporting the report: Zuetell, E., Tetero, F., Mutoni, A., Bwirayesu, G.,\& Busogi, M. (2026). Enabling Urban Flood Models and Flood Early Warning Systems in Kigali City – Rwanda: A Review and Audit of Hydrometeorological Data and Models. Notebooks analyze hydrometeorological observations and compare outputs from global flood forecasting models against locally-calibrated HEC-HMS/HEC-RAS simulations across four flood hotspots in Kigali, Rwanda. 1. Karuruma: The Nyabugogo River at the Karuruma Bridge 2. Rugunga: the Rwampara river at Rugunga 3. Mpazi: The Mpazi River at RN3 4. Ruliba: The Nyabarongo River at Ruliba Bridge --- ## Data Sources | Dataset | Source | Access | |---|---|---| | CHIRPS satellite rainfall | Climate Hazards Center, UCSB | Public | | Streamflow gage records | Rwanda Water Resources Board-Water Portal | Public - Rwanda Water Portal | | Rainfall station records | Meteo Rwanda | Request Required | | Google Flood Hub | Google Flood Hub | Public API | | GEOGloWS Flood Forecasts | GEOGloWS ECMWF Streamflow | Public API | | HEC-HMS / HEC-RAS outputs | Developed as part of this study | Included in `Model Data/` | --- ## Notebooks ### Data Access and Preparation **`CHIRPS_Data_Download.ipynb`** Downloads Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) for the Kigali region. **`RWRB_Hydrology_Station_Data.ipynb`** Processes streamflow records from Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWRB) gauge stations. Includes data cleaning, gap identification, and summary statistics for stations used in model calibration and validation. **`Rainfall_Station_Summary.ipynb`** Summarizes and visualizes rainfall records from ground-based stations across Kigali. Produces station-level statistics and comparison plots used in the hydrometeorological data audit. **`Kigali_ …