Articles | Volume 26, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1795-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1795-2026
Research article
 | 
20 Apr 2026
Research article |  | 20 Apr 2026

Prototype citizen and community science app for urban heavy rainfall risk management in the Ahr Valley, Germany

Jaqueline Hoffmann, Sascha Nau, Sabrina Abler, Vincent Theis, Peter Fischer-Stabel, Julian Janßen, and Andreas Abecker

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Cited articles

Abecker, A., Kazakos, W., De Melo Borges, J., and Zacharias, V.: Beiträge zu einer Technologie für Anwendungen des Participatory Sensing, in: Angewandte Geoinformatik, Wichmann, Berlin/Offenbach, 240–249, ISBN 978-3-87907-520-1, 2012a. 
Abecker, A., Braun, S., Kazakos, W., and Zacharias, V.: Participatory Sensing for Nature Conservation and Environment Protection, in: Monitoring and Mobile Applications, International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection, Aachen, ISBN: 978-3-8440-1248-4, 2012b. 
Abecker, A., Fuchs-Kittowski, F., Janßen, J., Müller, R., Pfützner, B., and Zemann, M.: Lösungsansätze zur Entscheidungsunterstützung bei Niedrigwasser und Trockenheit, in: Umweltinformationssysteme – Digitalisierung im Zeichen des Klimawandels und der Energiewende, edited by: Fuchs-Kittowski, F., Abecker, A., Hosenfeld, F., Reineke, A., and Jolk, C., Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, 139–153, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-43735-0_10, 2024. 
Agonafir, C., Lakhankar, T., Khanbilvardi, R., Krakauer, N., Radell, D., and Devineni, N.: A review of recent advances in urban flood research, Water Secur., 19, 100141, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2023.100141, 2023. 
Baldwin, E., Thiel, A., McGinnis, M., and Kellner, E.: Empirical research on polycentric governance: Critical gaps and a framework for studying long-term change, Policy Stud. J., 52, 319–348, https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12518, 2024. 
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Short summary
This proof-of-concept study presents a prototype Citizen and Community Science app that enables residents to document, classify, and report pluvial flood risks at neighbourhood scale in the Ahr Valley, Germany. Crowdsourced data feed into a Geo Data Warehouse to support municipal analysis and decision-making. Its open-source, scalable design strengthens public awareness and offers potential for global adaptation in urban flood risk management.
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