Global Flood Risk Tool Development

Royal HaskoningDHV (RHDHV) is a globally leading international consultancy and engineering firm focussed on improving living circumstances around the world for already 135 years. With over 6.000 colleagues spread over 150 countries we are committed to enhance society together. In particular, we are global leaders in providing solutions to the world’s challenges living with water. Water introduces both opportunities and risks to communities and nature worldwide as urban populations grow, the climate changes and resources become increasingly scarce.

As a company we want to interact more with the client on issues regarding flood risks. Also, we want to be able to cope with different levels of detail. We want to achieve this by connecting existing in-house tools and expert know-how, by connecting to open data sources and focus on visualizations. Therefore, we are currently developing a Global Flood Risk Tool that creates insight in flood hazards, flood damages and flood risks at any location/region in the world and that is able to justify a proposed flood protection investment. The tool should be globally applicable, provide quick flood risk estimates, include generalized and automated routines for the different assessments, have the flexibility to customize the elevation, land use and/or damage functions and should be a visually attractive and interactive tool. In 2017 we have started the tool development using ArcGIS and Python Scripting. The tool is now able to perform flood hazard and flood damage assessments and connects with Google Earth Engine through an API to load relevant datasets.

We have the ambition to further develop the tool in 2018 (see Internship Activities) and launch this tool internally (within RHDHV) and externally (pilot with a client). Therefore, we are looking for an enthusiastic, analytical and creative student who is eager to continue the development of this promising tool and enjoys Python programming and working with ArcGIS. The student will be supervised by people from the advisory groups Rivers & Coasts and Smart Information Solutions. The student gets the opportunity to contribute to an innovative product development and collaborate with experts in the field of flood risk and geo-information systems in a multi-disciplinary environment. Furthermore, the student will get a good sense of working at Royal HaskoningDHV and the projects executed by both advisory groups in The Netherlands and abroad. An internship contract is drafted with the selected student at the start of the internship. A suitable internship allowance will be made available for the student.

Interested students can send their motivation letter, CV and grade list to Tjeerd Driessen (Tjeerd.driessen@rhdhv.com). He can also be contacted for more information on this internship opportunity.

Internship Activities/Duties

The main activities in this internship will be, but are not limited to:

• Get acquainted with the existing Global Flood Risk Tool and automated routines
• Implement option to apply user input (land use or damage curve) in the damage assessments
• Implement flood risk assessment (i.e. flood risk maps, flood risk and damage graphs and interactive visualisations)
• Implement multiple options to visualize output (e.g. standardized reports, ArcGIS Online viewer and/or ESRI StoryMaps)
• Optimize the tool (i.e. improve user interface, speed up Python scripts)
• Test and validate the tool by using existing cases and comparison with the Dutch Waterschadeschatter (WSS) (viewer) en Schade en Slachtoffer Module

Special requirements

We are looking for students matching the following profile:

• MSc student
• Experience with ArcGIS and Python scripting (such as arcpy package and object-oriented programming)
• Collaborative approach and enthusiasm in working together with colleagues and clients.
• Strong problem solving skills and analytical competences
• Communicative skills
• Ability to work independently
• Flexibility to travel (offices in Nijmegen, Amersfoort and Rotterdam)
• Experience with hydrology, river management and/or flood risk management is preferred (not required)
• Ability to communicate in Dutch language is preferred (not required)

Minimum duration internship

Minimum of 3 months (4 months or longer is preferred)

Name of organisation internship provider: Royal HaskoningDHV

Name of contact person internship provider: Tjeerd Driessen

Email address contact person: Tjeerd.driessen@rhdhv.com

Website: https://www.royalhaskoningdhv.com/en-gb/markets/water/296