Klimaklar - Odense Under Vand

Virsabi Aps

About this app

Note: Because Klimaklar is based on geodata, the app only works when the user is in Odense.

Odense of the future

You may have heard about the different challenges that come with climate change. But what does that mean for Odense? This means, among other things, that we must prepare for heavier rain showers and periods of very wet weather. Therefore, we must equip the city and adapt to the climate of the future. We call this climate adaptation. In this app you can see where the water collects when it is really standing down in rods. You can also try being a mini-city planner and take care of the rain on your way.

You will be introduced to the term “rain event” when using the app. Here you have to choose between a 10-year rain, 50-year rain and 100-year rain and simulate how much rain is to fall over Odense.

A 100-year rainfall is a rain event that is so severe that it statistically only occurs once every 100 years. Similarly, a 10-year rainfall is a rain event that statistically occurs every ten years, etc. This does not necessarily mean that there will be only one 100-year event in 100 years. Such an incident can, in principle, occur every few days. Conversely, there is also the possibility that 200 years will pass between these heavy rain events.

Three virtual options

In the app, you are presented with three different initiatives:

1) A virtual look at Odense's city center. Here you choose between three different levels of rainfall: 10-year rain, 50-year rain and 100-year rain. Now you can watch when the water hits Odense and explore where the precipitation gathers. There will even be clues as to which way the water will flow when the floodgates of heaven are seriously opened.

2) A GPS-based water level calculator. Here you can see if your locality will be affected by elevated water levels in case of heavy rain. Again, you can choose from three different rain events.

3) Place virtual rain beds. In this part of the app, you can place so-called LAR elements on your own path that can take care of the rainwater and relieve the sewer system. You can build different roadbeds that can make your street both greener and safer while the rainwater is handled more sustainably.

Why did we develop this app?

The app has been developed as a collaboration between Odense Municipality and VandCenter Syd as part of the project "Odense model - Climate adaptation in Odense", which is partly supported by EU Regional Fund resources. One of the cornerstones of the project is the development of a communication tool that can disseminate knowledge about the heavy rainfall of the future and sustainable solutions. Weather forecasts and UN climate reports indicate that we will experience heavy rainfall for the next many years and generally have increased rainfall. So far, we have hidden the rainwater underground, where the rain together with wastewater is led into the sewer system. However, the ever-increasing volumes are pushing the sewer, which is having a hard time accommodating the water masses as the city grows.

Yesterday's solutions can therefore quickly prove to fall short if they are not combined with new and innovative methods. By using rainwater as a resource on the surface, we can both relieve the sewer system and at the same time create green, traffic-safe and recreational urban spaces.

We can do this with the help of so-called LAR solutions, where the rain seeps into the ground, is absorbed by plants, evaporates, is delayed, stored or transported to the Port of Odense.

On the project "Odense model", we become wiser about these climate solutions, where we also strategically investigate how Odense is equipped for the heavy rain of the future while we get both a greener and more beautiful city to live in.