City-Scale Digital Twin Framework

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Feedback
• License
• Acknowledgements
• References

Introduction

Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to flooding due to climate change and rapid urbanization. Traditional mapping and decision-support tools lack the capability to integrate real-time data or analyze cascading disruptions across interconnected urban systems. Digital twins offer a promising solution by enabling real-time monitoring, simulation, and optimization of urban environments.

This project presents a comprehensive, city-scale digital twin framework that integrates flood forecasting, transportation networks, and critical infrastructure systems into a unified, real-time cyberinfrastructure. By leveraging data from sensors, hydrological models, and geographic information systems (GIS), the framework provides a dynamic and interactive platform for city planners and emergency managers to visualize, analyze, and proactively manage urban flood events and their cascading impacts.

Project Website

A live, interactive version of this framework is available at the following website: https://hydroinformatics.uiowa.edu/lab/dt/

Feedback

We welcome your feedback! If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for improvement, please feel free to file an issue in the project's GitHub repository.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgements

This framework was developed through a collaborative effort by researchers from several institutions:

• IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA - Link
• Department of Computer Engineering, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye - Link
• Department of Information Systems Engineering, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Türkiye - Link
• Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA - Link
• ByWater Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA - Link

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement 101070125.

References

• Kaynak, S., Kaynak, B., Mermer, O., & Demir, I. (2025). City-scale digital twin framework for flood impact analysis: Integrating urban infrastructure and real-time data analytics. EarthArXiv. doi:10.31223/X53F0T