FATHOM-US v2.0

Fathom-US is the only large-scale flood model to be validated, subjected to academic peer review, and published in world-leading scientific journals. This award winning science, undertaken in collaboration with Google, evidences a convergence in model skill between Fathom-US and engineering-grade, local-scale models which required ~$10bn to produce. When benchmarked against 100-year flood maps from the Iowa Flood Center, the US Geological Survey, and FEMA, Fathom-US obtains an accuracy score of between 75 and 90% (accounting for both under- and over-prediction).

By virtue of its continuous coverage of every river in the contiguous US, compared to FEMA modelling only one-third of US river reaches, we found that current FEMA data only captures 60% of at-risk properties. For anybody seeking to understand US flood exposure, Fathom-US provides the complete picture.

No longer relying on history alone, Fathom-US provides a 2020 view of US flood hazard in lieu of changing climate and hurricane behaviour. Fluvial, pluvial, and coastal models simulate the hazard posed by all major flood sources, including explicit representation of hurricane-driven events. Further advances in extreme flow estimation, river channel schematisation, and flood defence characterisation, makes Fathom-US the most comprehensive flood hazard dataset ever generated.

Below are examples of the new Fathom-US data at 10m resolution

To find out more about Fathom and our products please click here, or read our open-access scientific publications listed below.