3D Mountain Simulation: Predicting Flood Paths

Problem

Predicting where water flows and accumulates on mountainous terrain is essential for flood-risk assessment. The goal of this research project at Shiraz University was to build a full pipeline in Python that goes from raw real-world elevation data to a visual prediction of flood paths and water accumulation.

Approach

• Reconstructed the 3D terrain surface from real-world elevation data using Delaunay triangulation.
• Predicted water flow with gradient-based methods, following the steepest descent across the triangulated surface.
• Calculated the volume of water accumulating in low-lying regions such as valleys and flat areas.

Results

The simulation produces 3D terrain plots with the predicted flood paths drawn over the surface, plus a heatmap of accumulated water volume that highlights the areas most at risk of flooding.