GEAR Lab Research on FlowsDT Published in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 🎉

GEAR Lab is pleased to share a new publication in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems by Debayan Mandal, Lei Zou, Abhinav Wadhwa, Rohan Singh Wilkho, Zhenhang Cai, Bing Zhou, Xinyue Ye, Galen Newman, Nasir Gharaibeh, and Burak Güneralp.

The paper, titled “FlowsDT: A Geospatial Digital Twin for Navigating Urban Flood Dynamics,” introduces FlowsDT-Galveston, a geospatial digital twin framework designed to model and visualize urban flood dynamics at a hyperlocal scale. Using Galveston City, Texas, as the study area, the research integrates high-resolution topography, hydrography, built environment data, hydrodynamic modeling, LiDAR, storm sewer information, social sensing, and immersive visualization to better understand flood behavior in complex urban environments.

This work shows how geospatial digital twins can support more timely and spatially detailed flood analysis. By simulating flood conditions under multiple rainfall scenarios, the framework helps identify at-risk areas, estimate flood depth and extent, and provide useful information for flood management, emergency response, urban planning, and resilience decision-making.

The study also highlights the value of combining spatial data science, hydrodynamic modeling, and digital twin technology to address urgent climate and hazard challenges. As cities face increasing risks from extreme rainfall and coastal flooding, tools such as FlowsDT can help researchers, planners, policymakers, and communities better understand dynamic flood processes and prepare for future events.

Congratulations to the research team on this important contribution to geospatial digital twin research and urban flood resilience.

Citation

Mandal, D., Zou, L., Wadhwa, A., Wilkho, R. S., Cai, Z., Zhou, B., Ye, X., Newman, G., Gharaibeh, N., & Güneralp, B. (2026). FlowsDT: A geospatial digital twin for navigating urban flood dynamics. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 126, 102414.