Table 1.

Overview of input hydroclimatic variables used to understand flood risk and numerical models used to simulate the efficiency and performance of NBS against flood risk.

Purpose	Type of NBS (place)	Models to simulate NBS efficiency	Input hydroclimatic parameters	References
To study the potentials of wetlands using the SWAT module of a GIS platform.	Wetlands (Bojiang Haizi River, Erdos Larus relictus)	SWAT	Daily rainfall, wind speed, RH, solar energy and air temperature	Li et al. (2019a)
To study the effects of vegetation on flood wave attenuation on the basis of a combination of field observation and numerical modelling.	Salt marshes and coastal wetlands (Western Scheldt estuary, the Netherlands)	SWAN numerical wave model	Field measurement, bathymetry, ocean current, ocean water level, bottom fraction, and wind speed.	Vuik et al. (2016)
To assess the functions of estuarial and tidal wetlands in reducing storm surge and flood damages.	Estuarine wetlands (mudflats and channels) (USA)	ArcGIS, ADCIRC numerical model	Wind velocity and atmospheric pressure	Highfield et al. (2018)
To simulate the role of wetland and vegetation roughness in reducing storm surge effects.	Wetland and vegetation roughness (Southeast Louisiana)	ADCIRC simulation/regression analysis	Wind velocity, atmospheric pressure, topo bathymetric, manning coefficient	Barbier et al. (2013)
To develop methods to delineate wetland inundation extent at basins.	Wetlands (Prairie Pothole, central North Dakota)	LiDAR, ArcGIS	Multi-temporal NAIP imagery, national wetlands inventory dataset, NDVI	Wu et al. (2019)
To study the effects of wetland regions their depth and positioning on river flows and peak flow control at basin scale.	Wetlands/ponds (Shiawassee River watershed, Saginaw Bay)	SWAT	Land use, soils, wetland field data, precipitation, RH, potential evapotranspiration	Martinez-Martinez et al. (2014)
To simulate hydrological processes with and without geographically isolated wetlands.	Contracted wetland (Greensboro Watershed, Mid- Atlantic Region of USA)	SWAT-WET	DEM, wetland drainage zones, daily precipitation temperature, and streamflow.	Yeo et al. (2019)
To analyse the role of weir and dredging of the channel in reducing upstream flood risks.	Wetland conservation, pond, lake (upper Lunan basin Scotland)	HEC-RAS	Maximum elevation, river water levels, discharge, lake water levels, precipitation	Vinten et al. (2019)
To simulate the potential of wetlands in attenuating peak water levels during storm tides.	Hybrid (Western Scheldt estuary, the Netherlands)	2D hydrodynamic model (TELEMAC 2D)	DEM, hourly averaged wind speeds, water level.	Stark et al. (2016)
To apply a novel framework of hydrodynamic and geospatial modelling to simulate the optimal flood risk reduction measures by wetland.	Wetland (Lower Tisza River, Hungary)	1D HEC-RAS model, ArcGIS, HEC-GeoRAS	DEM, daily discharge, maximum annual discharges, levees height	Guida et al. (2015)
To present a method that can describe the failure likelihood of a hybrid flood water protection system by integrating numerical models with stochastic models.	Hybrid flood (Netherlands)	1D wave energy balance	Mean wave period, water level, significant wave height, and wind speed	Vuik et al. (2018)
Using the hybrid (blue-green) approach to retain and purify stormwater runoff from the street.	Hybrid (blue green) (Łódź, Poland)	Field survey	Precipitation, discharge	Jurczak et al. (2018)
Effectiveness of several NBS in the reduction of runoff.	Bio-retention, grass swale, and porous pavement (Tianjin University, China)	Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)	Precipitation, Temperature, Evaporation, Wind speed, Basin elevation	Niu et al. (2016)
Investigating whether an increase in the number of nature-based features can reduce surface runoff in hillslope areas.	Low earth bunds and debris dams (Brompton catchment, UK)	TOPMODEL and 1-dimensional hydraulic channel routing scheme	Precipitation, digital elevation model	Metcalfe et al. (2017)
Effect of applying NBS on several hydrological variables related to floods.	Tree woodland (River Cary, UK)	HEC-RAS and 2-dimensional River2D hydraulic model	Precipitation, River channel, river cross section	Thomas and Nisbet (2007)
Simulating changes in flow of water along channels and across surfaces due to application of NBS.	Storage pond (Tarland Burn catchment, UK; Spercheios River Basin, Greece)	TUFLOW	Precipitation, Basin boundary, Initial water level, Land use, Soil infiltration, Elevation	Ghimire et al. (2014) Spyrou et al. (2021)
Potential of green infrastructure in regulating surface runoff under climate change scenarios.	Trees and green roofs (Munich, Germany)	MIKE-SHE	Precipitation, Basin boundary, Manning's number, Wind speed, Evaporation, Temperature	Zölch et al. (2017)
Reduction of flood damages during coastal flooding	Coastal wetlands (New Jersey, USA)	MIKE-21	Precipitation, Basin boundary, Manning's number, Wind speed, Evaporation, Temperature	Narayan et al. (2017)
Investigating the synergic effects of floodplain restoration on flood risk reduction	Forest and wetland revegetation (Vermont, USA)	HEC-RAS and economic flood damage cost model	Precipitation, River channel, river cross section	Gourevitch et al. (2020)
A hydrodynamic approach is combined with an optimisation function to assess various green, blue and grey solutions in an integrated way.	Green-blue-grey approach (Sint Maarten Island, Saint Martin)	Hydrodynamic model EPA SWMM coupled with optimisation algorithm, Questionnaire, multi-criteria analysis	Model simulated precipitation data and evaporation	Alves et al. (2020)
To evaluate the efficiency of isolated wetland subsurface and surface hydrologic connections to rivers.	Wetland soils (Prairie Pothole, North America) (Prairie Pothole Region of North America)	HydroGeoSphere model	DEM, water level, rainfall	Ameli and Creed (2017)
To evaluate the performance of dune structure reconstruction as a DRR solution in the face of current and future sea level conditions at a quickly eroding coastal area.	Dune system rehabilitation (reconstruction and revegetation), Bellocchio, Italy	Hydro-morpho dynamic model	Temporal analogue extreme storm event from 5 to 6 February 2015, used to test the NBS	Fernández-Montblanc et al. (2020)
A societal scale model was built to estimate the efficiency of green NBS on reducing the magnitude and quick flow of urban surface runoff.	Green infrastructure, Beijing, China	Community scale simulation model	Urban flooding	Liu et al. (2014)
To estimate overall benefits of flood storage capacity which was implemented as part of the restoration of wetlands in this area.	Wetland and ponds (Cambridgeshire, UK).	TESSA toolkit		Peh et al. (2013)
To estimate the impact of shore area wetlands in the northeastern USA against hurricane induced flood risk.	Coastal wetland cover (Atlantic coast USA),	MIKE-21 flood model	The model was simulated by the wind which was based on observed data Bathymetry data was part of the MIKE model C-MAP.	Narayan et al. (2017)
To offer a worldwide study of the socio-economic value of mangroves for flood risk management.	Mangrove forests, global analysis.	Delft3D	Historical cyclones and normal waves and sea level astronomical, storm surge, tide and mean sea level to generate the regression model	Menendez et al. (2020)
To present a methodology for the choice and placing of NBS to accomplish urban flood risk management.	Green wall/roofs, bio-retentions, rain gardens and previous pavements, Sukhumvit area, Bangkok, Thailand	A macro scale approach for urban flood modelling, using the Mike Urban hydrodynamic model.	Rainfall return periods (1-in-2 year, and 1-in-20 year)	Majidi et al. (2019)