Validation of the open-source hydrodynamic model SFINCS on historical river floods at the global scale

Hydrology and earth system sciences 2026 Open access

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Authors: Tarun Sadana, Jeroen Aerts, Dirk Eilander, Bruno Merz, Hans de Moel, Tim Sebastiaan Busker, Veerle Bril, Jens de Bruijn
DOI: 10.5194/hess-30-5491-2026
Cited by: 0
References: 86

Abstract

Abstract. We evaluate the performance of the Super-Fast INundation of CoastS (SFINCS) hydrodynamic model for simulating riverine floods, combined with a fully automated open-source data preprocessing pipeline. To do this, we assessed the simulated extent of 499 historic flood events against the satellite derived flood extents using the Critical Success Index (CSI) as a performance metric. We utilised simulated discharges from the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS) hydrological model and found that SFINCS performance improved with upstream basin size, with a global mean CSI of 0.42 for basins with large upstream area (>1,000 km²) and a CSI of 0.29 for basins with small upstream area (

Fields of Study & Subjects

Flood Risk Assessment and Management Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Hydrology and earth system sciences
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Volume
30
Issue
17
Pages
5491–5519
Publication date
1 September 2026
Language
EN