Locating flooded area by creating buffer with elevation around points using ArcGIS Desktop?

Question

I have a shapefile with points, that each have an elevation in their attribute tabel, based on how high the water level is, at a given return period. I need to create a buffer around these points at 50 m, that needs to dissolve into one shape using the highest attribute along the points at the overlaps.

Then I need to see if this buffer/waterlevel is higher than the surrounding terrain, thereby giving an indication if the area will be flooded.

Is this possible using ArcMap Standard (With Spatial Analyst, 3d analyst and ArcHydro)?

Answer 1

It's possible using IDW in 3d Analyst or Spatial Analyst. This can create a Raster with elevation by interpolating between the points. It's important to make sure the buffer is large enough and parameters for the interpolation is correct (depends on what you need).

Then using Raster Calculator (DEM - WaterLevel from IDW) and everything positive will be flooded if it's connected to the stream (line).