Fire and rain are one: extreme rainfall events predict wildfire extent in an arid grassland

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise M. Verhoeven ◽  
Brad R. Murray ◽  
Chris R. Dickman ◽  
Glenda M. Wardle ◽  
Aaron C. Greenville
Keyword(s):  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
The North ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Wildfire Regimes

Assessing wildfire regimes and their environmental drivers is critical for effective land management and conservation. We used Landsat imagery to describe the wildfire regime of the north-eastern Simpson Desert (Australia) between 1972 and 2014, and to quantify the relationship between wildfire extent and rainfall. Wildfires occurred in 15 of the 42 years, but only 27% of the study region experienced multiple wildfires. A wildfire in 1975 burned 43% of the region and is the largest on record for the area. More recently, a large wildfire in 2011 reburned areas that had not burned since 1975 (47% of the 2011 wildfire), as well as new areas that had no record of wildfires (25% of the 2011 wildfire). The mean minimum wildfire return interval was 27 years, comparable with other spinifex-dominated grasslands, and the mean time since last wildfire was 21 years. Spinifex-dominated vegetation burned most frequently and over the largest area. Extreme annual rainfall events (> 93rd percentile) effectively predicted large wildfires occurring 2 years after those events. Extreme rainfall is predicted to increase in magnitude and frequency across central Australia, which could alter wildfire regimes and have unpredictable and far-reaching effects on ecosystems in the region’s arid landscapes.

scholarly journals Evaluation of climate change impacts on extreme rainfall events characteristics using a synoptic weather typing-based daily precipitation downscaling model

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed Tavakolifar ◽  
Ebrahim Shahghasemi ◽  
Sara Nazif
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Daily Precipitation ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Synoptic Weather Typing

Climate change has impacted all phenomena in the hydrologic cycle, especially extreme events. General circulation models (GCMs) are used to investigate climate change impacts but because of their low resolution, downscaling methods are developed to provide data with high enough resolution for regional studies from GCM outputs. The performance of rainfall downscaling methods is commonly acceptable in preserving average characteristics, but they do not preserve the extreme event characteristics especially rainfall amount and distribution. In this study, a novel downscaling method called synoptic statistical downscaling model is proposed for daily precipitation downscaling with an emphasis on extreme event characteristics preservation. The proposed model is applied to a region located in central Iran. The results show that the developed model can downscale all percentiles of precipitation events with an acceptable performance and there is no assumption about the similarity of future rainfall data with the historical observations. The outputs of CCSM4 GCM for two representative concentration pathways (RCPs) of RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 are used to investigate the climate change impacts in the study region. The results show 40% and 30% increase in the number of extreme rainfall events under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively.

Watershed Hydrological and Chemical Responses to Precipitation Variability in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Precipitation Variability ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
The North ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
The North Atlantic

Variations in temperature and precipitation are both components of climate variability. Based on coral growth rates measured near Puerto Rico, the Caribbean was 2–3ºC cooler during the “Little Ice Age” during the seventeenth century (Winter et al. 2000). At the millennial scale, temperature variations in tropical regions have been inferred to have substantial biological effects (such as speciation and extinction), but not at the multidecadal timescales considered here. My focus is on precipitation variability in particular, because climate models examining effects of increased greenhouse gases suggest greater changes in precipitation than in temperature patterns in tropical regions. Some correspondence between both the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Northern Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and average temperatures and total annual precipitation have been reported for the LTER site at Luquillo (Greenland 1999; Greenland and Kittel 2002), but those studies did not refer to extreme events. Based on climate records for Puerto Rico since 1914, Malmgren et al. (1997) found small increases in air temperature during El Niño years and somewhat greater total rainfall during the positive phase of the NAO. Similar to ENSO, the NAO index is characterized by differences in sea-level atmospheric pressure, in this case based on measurements in Iceland and Portugal (Walker and Bliss 1932). Its effects on climate have largely been described in terms of temperature and precipitation anomalies in countries bordering the North Atlantic (e.g., Hurrell 1995). Puerto Rico is in the North Atlantic hurricane zone, and hurricanes clearly play a major role in precipitation variability. The association between extreme rainfall events and hurricanes is discussed in detail in this chapter. I examine the degree to which extreme rainfall events are associated with hurricanes and other tropical storms. I discuss whether the occurrence of these extreme events has changed through time in Puerto Rico or can be linked to the recurrent patterns of the ENSO or the NAO. I examine the 25-year daily precipitation record for the Luquillo LTER site, the 90-year monthly record from the nearest site to Luquillo with such a long record, Fajardo, and those of the two other Puerto Rico stations with the longest daily precipitation records, Manati and Mayaguez (figure 8.1).

The fire history of an arid grassland: the influence of antecedent rainfall and ENSO

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron C. Greenville ◽  
Chris R. Dickman ◽  
Glenda M. Wardle ◽  
Mike Letnic
Keyword(s):  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Antecedent Rainfall ◽  
Fire Event ◽  
Study Region ◽  
The North ◽  
The Mean

Implementing appropriate fire regimes has become an increasingly important objective for biodiversity conservation programs. Here, we used Landsat imagery from 1972 to 2003 to describe the recent fire history and current wildfire regime of the north-eastern Simpson Desert, Australia, within each of the region’s seven main vegetation classes. We then explored the relationship between antecedent rainfall and El Niño–Southern Oscillation with wildfire area. Wildfires were recorded in 11 years between 1972 and 2003, each differing in size. In 1975, the largest wildfire was recorded, burning 55% (4561 km2) of the study region. Smaller fires in the intervening years burnt areas that had mostly escaped the 1975 fire, until 2002, when 31% (2544 km2) of the study region burnt again. Wildfires burnt disproportionally more spinifex (Triodia basedowii) than any other vegetation class. A total of 49% of the study area has burnt once since 1972 and 20% has burnt twice. Less than 1% has burnt three times and 36% has remained unaffected by wildfire since 1972. The mean minimum fire return interval was 26 years. Two years of cumulative rainfall before a fire event, rainfall during the year of a fire event, and the mean Southern Oscillation Index from June to November in the year before a fire event could together be used to successfully predict wildfire area. We use these findings to describe the current fire regime.

scholarly journals Characteristics, Origins, and Impacts of Summertime Extreme Precipitation in the Lake Mead Watershed

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 2663-2680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Sierks ◽  
Julie Kalansky ◽  
Forest Cannon ◽  
F. M. Ralph
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
North American Monsoon ◽  
Lake Mead ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
The North ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Tier I

AbstractThe North American monsoon (NAM) is the main driver of summertime climate variability in the U.S. Southwest. Previous studies of the NAM have primarily focused on the Tier I region of the North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME), spanning central-western Mexico, southern Arizona, and New Mexico. This study, however, presents a climatological characterization of summertime precipitation, defined as July–September (JAS), in the Lake Mead watershed, located in the NAME Tier II region. Spatiotemporal variability of JAS rainfall is examined from 1981 to 2016 using gridded precipitation data and the meteorological mechanisms that account for this variability are investigated using reanalyses. The importance of the number of wet days (24-h rainfall ≥1 mm) and extreme rainfall events (95th percentile of wet days) to the total JAS precipitation is examined and shows extreme events playing a larger role in the west and central basin. An investigation into the dynamical drivers of extreme rainfall events indicates that anticyclonic Rossby wave breaking (RWB) in the midlatitude westerlies over the U.S. West Coast is associated with 89% of precipitation events >10 mm (98th percentile of wet days) over the Lake Mead basin. This is in contrast to the NAME Tier I region where easterly upper-level disturbances such as inverted troughs are the dominant driver of extreme precipitation. Due to the synoptic nature of RWB events, corresponding impacts and hazards extend beyond the Lake Mead watershed are relevant for the greater U.S. Southwest.

scholarly journals Determinação da curva de intensidade-duração-frequência do município de Cruzeiro do Sul – Acre

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. e30
Author(s):  
Nayara Dos Santos Albrigo ◽  
Maylla Tawanda dos Santos Pereira ◽  
Nelma Tavares Dias Soares ◽  
Gleibson De Souza Andrade ◽  
Vinicius Alexandre Sikora de Souza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gumbel Distribution ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Return Time ◽  
Good Adherence ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
The North ◽  
Historical Series ◽  
Intensity Duration Frequency ◽  
Engineering Projects

Information on extreme rainfall events associated with predictability and probabilities, especially in intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves, are essential for the development of engineering projects aimed at sanitation, drainage and waterproofing of surfaces, which allow to offer more suitable conditions for dimensioning hydraulic and hydrological works and services. However, much of the North Region of the country does not have this information available or updated. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop the IDF equation for the municipality of Cruzeiro do Sul - AC. A 14-year historical series was used, distributed between 1993 and 2011, such data were analyzed by the Gumbel distribution, the same being related, by means of the daily rain breakdown, for return periods comprising 2 to 100 years and rainfall durations of 5 minutes to 24 hours. In the analysis for the construction of the curve, it was observed that the years 1995 and 2002 corresponded to the years with the highest precipitated height indexes, being 111 mm and 103 mm, respectively, however these events had an estimated return time between 3 and 8 years, which does not denote anomalous events. The IDF curve constructed in the study showed good adherence to the observed data, which proves its use in the region.

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal Variability and Trends of Mean and Extreme Rainfall Events in the Sudano-sahelian Region of Cameroon

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim NJOUENWET ◽  
Lucie A. Djiotang Tchotchou ◽  
Brian Odhiambo Ayugi ◽  
Guy Merlin Guenang ◽  
Derbetini A. Vondou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Drought Risk ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Precipitation Concentration ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The Sudano-Sahelian region of Cameroon is mainly drained by the Benue, Chari and Logone rivers, which are very useful for water resources, especially for irrigation, hydropower generation, and navigation. Long-term changes in mean and extreme rainfall events in the region may be of crucial importance in understanding the impact of climate change. Daily and monthly rainfall data from twenty-five synoptic stations in the study area from 1980 to 2019 and extreme indices from the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) measurements were estimated using the non-parametric Modified Mann-Kendall test and the Sen slope estimator. The precipitation concentration index (PCI), the precipitation concentration degree (PCD), and the precipitation concentration period (PCP) were used to explore the spatio-temporal variations in the characteristics of rainfall concentrations. An increase in extreme rainfall events was observed, leading to an upward trend in mean annual. Trends in consecutive dry days (CDD) are significantly increasing in most parts of the study area. This could mean that the prevalence of drought risk is higher in the study area. Overall, the increase in annual rainfall could benefit the hydro-power sector, agricultural irrigation, the availability of potable water sources, and food security.

scholarly journals Hourly Analyses of the Large Storms and Atmospheric Rivers that Provide Most of California’s Precipitation in Only 10 to 100 Hours per Year

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Lamjiri ◽  
Michael Dettinger ◽  
F. Martin Ralph ◽  
Nina Oakley ◽  
Jonathan Rutz
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Northern California ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Atmospheric Rivers ◽  
The North

California is regularly impacted by floods and droughts, primarily as a result of too many or too few atmospheric rivers (ARs). This study analyzes a two-decade-long hourly precipitation dataset from 176 California weather stations and a 3-hourly AR chronology to report variations in rainfall events across California and their association with ARs. On average, 10-40 and 60-120 hours of rainfall in southern and northern California, respectively, are responsible for more than half of annual rainfall accumulations. Approximately 10-30% of annual precipitation at locations across the state is from only one large storm. On average, northern California receives 25-45 rainfall events annually (40-50% of which are AR-related). These events typically have longer durations and higher event-precipitation totals than those in southern California. Northern California also receives more AR landfalls with longer durations and stronger Integrated Vapor Transport (IVT). On average, ARs contribute 79%, 76%, and 68% of extreme-rainfall accumulations (i.e., top 5% events annually) in the north coast, northern Sierra, and Transverse Ranges of southern California, respectively. The San Francisco Bay Area terrain gap in the California Coast Range allows more AR water vapor to reach inland over the Delta and Sacramento Valley, and thus, influences precipitation in the Delta’s catchment. This is particularly important for extreme precipitation in the northern Sierra Nevada, including river basins above Oroville Dam and Shasta Dam. This study highlights differences between rainfall and AR characteristics in coastal versus inland northern California, differences that largely determine the regional geography of flood risks and water-reliability. These analyses support water resource, flood, levee, wetland, and ecosystem management within the catchment of the San Francisco estuary system by describing regional characteristics of ARs and their influence on rainfall on an hourly timescale.

scholarly journals Watershed-Based Rainfall variability and trends of extreme rainfall events in South East Awash Basin, Ethiopia

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 5524-5530
Author(s):  
Yonas Tadesse Alemu
Keyword(s):  
Coefficient Of Variation ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Precipitation Distribution ◽  
Precipitation Concentration ◽  
Dire Dawa

This study presents analysis of Rainfall variability and trends of extreme rainfall events in the Oda Gunufeta -Cherecha -Dechatu watershed, Awash Drainage Basin, Eastern Ethiopia. The study employed the coefficient of variation and the Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) as statistical descriptors of rainfall variability. The indices at the five stations were subjected to non-parametric Mann-Kendall test to detect the trend over the period between 1985 to 2014. The results of the study revealed that, the watershed experiences moderate inter-annual rainfall variability. The Belg rainfall shows high variability than Kiremt rainfall. Highest Belg & Kiremt rainfall variability is observed in Dire Dawa with coefficient of variation of 46% and 40% respectively. The annual PCI for the watershed in all the stations under investigation during the record periods showed that 100% of the years for which the annual PCI was estimated fell within the irregular precipitation distribution range or high precipitation concentration. The irregular precipitation distribution also extended to all the stations in short rainy season (Belg rainfall) and in two stations in the main rainy season (Kiremt season). With regard to the rainfall trend, the annual rainfall has showed a negative trend in most of the stations for the period 1985-2014. The Mann–Kendall trend test during the Kiremt season shows a positive trend in Dengego, Dire Dawa, Combolcha and Haramaya and the increasing tendency is significant at p<0.1 in Degego, p<0.05 in Dire Dawa, p <0.05 in Combolcha and p <0.01 in Haramaya. The heavy rainfall events, the 90th & 95th percentiles, in all the five stations showed an increasing pattern but except in Combolcha the trends are not statistically significant. This implies that the watershed has been under increased rainfall intensity and this in turn has the potential cause for high risk of flood occurrences.

scholarly journals Projected Changes in Intra-Season Rainfall Characteristics in the Niger River Basin, West Africa

Atmosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uvirkaa Akumaga ◽  
Aondover Tarhule
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Characteristics ◽  
Future Time Period ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Niger River ◽  
Projected Changes

The magnitude and timing of seasonal rainfall is vitally important to the health and vitality of key agro-ecological and social-economic systems of the Niger River Basin. Given this unique context, knowledge concerning how climate change is likely to impact future rainfall characteristics and patterns is critically needed for adaptation and mitigation planning. Using nine ensemble bias-corrected climate model projection results under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 (RCP—Representative Concentration Pathway) emissions scenarios at the mid-future time period, 2021/2025-2050 from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiments (CORDEX) dataset; this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the projected changes in rainfall characteristics in three agro-ecological zones of the Niger River Basin. The results show an increase in the average rainfall of about 5%, 10–20% and 10–15% for the Southern Guinea, Northern Guinea and Sahelian zones, respectively, relative to the baseline, 1981/1985–2005. On the other hand, the change in future rainfall intensities are largely significant and the frequency of rainfall at the low, heavy and extreme rainfall events in the future decrease at most locations in the Niger River Basin. The results also showed an increase in the frequency of moderate rainfall events at all locations in the basin. However, in the Northern Guinea and Sahel locations, there is an increase in the frequency of projected heavy and extreme rainfall events. The results reveal a shift in the future onset/cessation and a shortening of the duration of the rainy season in the basin. Specifically, the mean date of rainfall onset will be delayed by between 10 and 32 days. The mean onset of cessation will also be delayed by between 10 and 21 days. It is posited that the projected rainfall changes pose serious risks for food security of the region and may require changes in the cropping patterns and management.

scholarly journals Rainfall Trends and Extremes in Saudi Arabia in Recent Decades

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mansour Almazroui
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Daily Rainfall ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
Total Rainfall ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Trends

The observed records of recent decades show increased economic damage associated with flash flooding in different regions of Saudi Arabia. An increase in extreme rainfall events may cause severe repercussions for the socio-economic sectors of the country. The present study investigated the observed rainfall trends and associated extremes over Saudi Arabia for the 42-year period of 1978–2019. It measured the contribution of extreme events to the total rainfall and calculated the changes to mean and extreme rainfall events over five different climate regions of Saudi Arabia. Rainfall indices were constructed by estimating the extreme characteristics associated with daily rainfall frequency and intensity. The analysis reveals that the annual rainfall is decreasing (5.89 mm decade−1, significant at the 90% level) over Saudi Arabia for the entire analysis period, while it increased in the most recent decade. On a monthly scale, the most significant increase (5.44 mm decade−1) is observed in November and the largest decrease (1.20 mm decade−1) in January. The frequency of intense rainfall events is increasing for the majority of stations over Saudi Arabia, while the frequency of weak events is decreasing. More extreme rainfall events are occurring in the northwest, east, and southwest regions of Saudi Arabia. A daily rainfall of ≥ 26 mm is identified as the threshold for an extreme event. It is found that the contribution of extreme events to the total rainfall amount varies from region to region and season to season. The most considerable contribution (up to 56%) is found in the southern region in June. Regionally, significant contribution comes from the coastal region, where extreme events contribute, on average, 47% of the total rainfall each month from October to February, with the largest (53%) in November. For the entire country, extreme rainfall contributes most (52%) in November and least (20%) in July, while contributions from different stations are in the 8–50% range of the total rainfall.

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