A dam-break flood simulation model in curvilinear coordinates

A dam-break flood model based on a contravariant integral form of the shallow water equations is presented. The numerical integration of the equations of motion is carried out by means of a finite volumefinite difference numerical scheme that involves an exact Riemann solver and which is based on a high-order WENO reconstruction procedure. An original scheme for the simulation of the wet front progress on the dry bed is adopted. The proposed model capacity to correctly simulate the wet front progress velocity is tested by numerically reproducing the dry bed dam-break problem. The model is adopted for the real case study of the Rio Fucino lake-dam collapse and subsequent flood wave propagation, downstream of the Campotosto reservoir (Italy).