Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Masters Capstone Project
Degree Name
M.S. in Geographic Information Science
Organizational Unit
College of Natural Science and Mathematics, Geography and the Environment
Keywords
Colorado, Wildfires, Fires, Debris flow
Abstract
The 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, the largest in Colorado’s History, impacted over 200,000 acres of land, including vital watersheds close to population centers in Colorado, such as the towns of Estes Park and Loveland. Runoff and debris flows are a continuous hazard for approximately five years post-fire. This study takes a spatial approach to modeling runoff potential of the Big Thompson Subbasin Watershed, using curve number methodology to approximate runoff potential by combining land cover, soil data, slope, and burn severity. Field work indicated possible uncertainty in the model due to discrepancies with field sample soil hydro groups compared to soil dataset. Flow Accumulation model informs areas of highest risk within the curve number model output, with the aim to inform hazard mitigation and disaster management decision-makers how best to proactively lessen runoff risk.
Copyright Date
6-2-2023
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Publication Statement
Copyright held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Ashleigh Boyd
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
34 pgs
File Size
8.03 MB
Recommended Citation
Boyd, Ashleigh, "Modeling Debris Flow Hazard Risk Post Wildfire in Northern Colorado: A Spatial Approach" (2023). Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones. 76.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/geog_ms_capstone/76