Investigations of Multi-Platform Data for Developing an Integrated Flood Information System in the Kalu River Basin, Sri Lanka

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Investigations of Multi-Platform Data for Developing an Integrated Flood Information System in the Kalu River Basin, Sri Lanka

It focuses on Investigations of Multi-Platform Data for Developing an Integrated Flood Information System in the Kalu River Basin, Sri Lanka. The author addresses very interesting topic. The manuscript in its current form is not adequate to be published. Author is requested to revise it and follow the following suggestions to improve their work. In my opinion, some details on the experiment should be presented in methodology that validates your results with filed data. This study looks very localized needs to add some literature of other countries or region which have faced same problem sand make it more readable for globally.

Other comments

Revise your abstract.

*       What is the key finding?

*       What are the practical implications of your research (how can the results be utilized by e.g., readers, community)?

Line 24 What is the mean of The shift in storm position was found to be one of the reasons for the low performance of the rainfall forecasts?

Line 26-27 The proposed method can be useful for flood risk management, particularly in poorly gauged basins. How to reach this conclusion? it should be elaborate

Introduction

An introduction is poorly framed. Very localized introduction! I suggest the authors to revise it completely into a new format as suggested papers. The authors need to clarify the novelty in the introduction section. This section is not clearly explaining the overall picture of your paper. It is suggested to add some literature globally and make it more attractive for readers. The specific issue of your study area and finally problem formulation and scope of the research.

I would like to ask to cite to the similar latest publication. I suggest following paper for your guideline.

Manzoor, Z.; Ehsan, M.; Khan, M. B.; Manzoor, A.; Akhter, M. M.; Sohail, M. T.; Hussain, A.; Shafi, A.; Abu-Alam, T.; Abioui, M. Floods and flood management and its socio-economic impact on Pakistan: A review of the empirical literature. Frontiers in Environmental Science 2022, 10, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.1021862

Dawood, F., Akhtar, M. M., & Ehsan, M. (2021). Evaluating urbanization impact on stressed aquifer of Quetta Valley, Pakistan. DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 222, 103-113.

Sohail, M. T.; Hussan, A.; Ehsan, M.; Al-Ansari, N.; Akhter, M. M.; Manzoor, Z.; Elbeltagi, A. Groundwater budgeting of Nari and Gaj formations and groundwater mapping of Karachi, Pakistan. Applied Water Science 2022, 12, 1-24. DOI: 10.1007/s13201-022-01795-0.

It is suggested to properly provide a table that indicates the past flash flood events in your study area.

It is suggested that include a paragraph that indicates your study's importance from the prospective of the South Asia region.

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the research framework for the real-time flood monitoring, 142 forecasting, and early warning systems

On what basis you developed this workflow?

These are the following question that needs to address from your end.

 1.      What are your suggestions to improve the flash flood management and quick response systems in your study area?

2.      What do you propose to cope with the upcoming global warming and its aftershocks?

3.      It is a serious issue of debate. I expect some appreciable and serious contributions from this platform. I advise you to revise it accordingly and provide some useful insights that are helpful to your study area and the international community.

4.      Author should make a comparative analysis of regional countries and present an effective solution that is vital to cater to such situations.

Conclusions

The current form is very large in length. It is suggested to revise this section and make it more concise that reflect your study. 

Author Response

We appreciate your recognition of this research work and providing valuable comments and suggestions for the revisions. Each of your comments have served to improve and strengthen our manuscript and its readability. We have made modifications to reflect all of them and provide the modified manuscript with track changes. 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Although the study of flood risk is very important, I do not see the novelty of this study in increasing knowledge in this field. The authors need to reconsider the introduction section and compare the previous research results to highlight the main research content, innovation, and knowledge base gaps filled in this study.

The format of the figures in the manuscript should be unified, including font size, borders, scales, etc. In addition, the aesthetics of the figure is poor and needs to be further improved. In addition, the aesthetics of the figure needs to be further improved. For the sake of clarity, I suggest adding a diagram in Section 3.3.2 to show the interconnections between different modules of the WEB-RRI model.

In addition, there are a lot of common-sense errors in the manuscript, please carefully check. For example, the use of en-dash (–) and hyphens (-), abbreviations of proper nouns, etc.

Please, be precise in the conclusion. The authors can shorten it by focusing on the most important remarks based on the major findings and discussions.

To conclude, I believe that the manuscript conforms to the scope of the Water journal, the method used is reasonable, and some research results have been achieved. Therefore, I recommend acceptance after modification.

Author Response

We appreciate and thank you for your valuable comments and suggestions for the revisions. Each of your comments have served to improve and strengthen our manuscript and its readability by global and regional audience. We have made modifications to reflect all of your comments and provide the modified manuscript with track changes.  

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Manuscript ID: atmosphere-2242647

 Title: Investigations of Multi-Platform Data for Developing an Integrated Flood Information System in the Kalu River Basin, Sri Lanka

Authors: M. Rasmy et al

1. Abstract: The abstract is also concise and complete. The keywords appropriately reflect the content of the manuscript.

2. Introduction: Previous studies cited and a critical comparison of different methodological approaches well described. The manuscript objectives have been significant and concisely stated.

3. Materials and Methods: The study region, data sets and processing have been clearly described.

4. Results: These are clearly presented.

5. Conclusions: Discussion is clear and concise. Conclusions and prospects are in line with the discussion.

In conclusion, I did find much of this manuscript well organized and convincing, I did learn about “Investigations of Multi-Platform Data for Developing an Integrated Flood Information System in the Kalu River Basin, Sri Lanka”. I do recommend it.

Author Response

Thank you very much for reviewing our article and providing your positive comments. Authors trust that this study is useful and timely to fill the data gaps by utilizing present-day science and technological advancements as well as to enhancing capacity and technical knowledge of experts and policy makers and eventually to contribute to the UN initiative of “Early Warning for All” within five-years (2023-2027).

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

It is suggested to improve the introduction section as already recommended to the authors to make it more scientific sound and readable. The introduction should be more attractive for readers.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer #1 Round #2

It is suggested to improve the introduction section as already recommended to the authors to make it more scientifically sound and readable. The introduction should be more attractive to readers.

Additional explanation from Assistant Editor: It is suggested to make introduction regional fist duscusss world senerio, then regional senerio after that focus on study area.

Response:

We appreciate and thank you for your additional comments to improve the Introduction further to be more attractive for readers, scientifically sound, and readable by global/regional readers. We have revised Introduction so that your valuable comments are reflected in the revision. Unfortunately, we could not clearly understand the additional explanation received from the Assistant Editor.

We have added the following points to the revised manuscript

• This is the first study to investigate multi-platform extreme flood events data (i.e. ground, satellite, bias-corrected outputs, and numerical model outputs) simultaneously in a single study and integrate them to implement an IFIS in developing regions
• Particularly, real-time hourly or daily rain gauge data can help improve the spatially and temporarily varying biases of SPPs for real-time applications. Thus, additional investments are required for infrastructure development and maintenance. Zhou et al. (2022) [31] proposed a gauge network design method for finding a threshold and its configurations necessary for effective bias correction of SPPs. As an alternative approach, this research used a satellite rainfall climatology map that provides reliable rainfall distributions over the basin to find a minimum gauge threshold and locations for encouraging smart investments in data-poor regions.
• Ensemble forecasting skills are progressing faster and developing countries able to assess the ensemble data streams freely; however, only a few countries in the developing world have progressed in the ensemble rainfall prediction system, whereas their usage for streamflow forecast is not widely addressed in many regions [22]. Recent studies using various ensemble forecasts in different river basins showed that streamflow forecast could provide reliable skills at a 1-5-day lead [43] and peak discharge correlated well with observed data [44], whereas the skill of forecasts in capturing extreme precipitation events was poor [45]. Therefore, more studies are necessary to verify ensemble rainfall forecasts and quantify the uncertainties to gain confidence and incorporate it in catchment scale FEWS in many developing regions.