scholarly journals Climatology and Interannual Variability of Floods during the TRMM Era (1998–2013)

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 3289-3305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Yan ◽  
Huan Wu ◽  
Guojun Gu ◽  
Zhijun Huang ◽  
Lorenzo Alfieri ◽  
...  

AbstractSpatial and temporal variations of global floods during the TRMM period (1998–2013) are explored by means of the outputs of the Dominant River Routing Integrated with VIC Environment model (DRIVE) driven by the precipitation rates from the TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA). Climatological and seasonal mean features of floods including frequency (FF), duration (FD), and mean and total intensity (FI and FTI) are examined and further compared to those for a variety of precipitation indices derived from the daily TMPA rain rates. In general, floods and precipitation manifest similar spatial distributions, confirming that more precipitation (both amount and frequency) often indicates higher probability of floods. However, different flood indices can be associated with different precipitation characteristics with a highly region-dependent distribution. FF and FD tend to be more related to daily precipitation frequency globally, especially the mid- to high-end precipitation frequencies (F10, F25, F50). However, FI and FTI tend to be more associated with the mean volume/magnitude of those (extreme) daily precipitation events (Pr10 and Pr25). Nonetheless, daily precipitation intensity except the very high end one (R50) generally has a relatively weak effect on floods. The precipitation–flood relations at the 10 large regions are further examined, providing an improved understanding of precipitation-related flood-generating mechanisms in different locations. On the interannual time scale, El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can significantly affect floods in many flood-prone zones. However, it is noted that even though the ENSO effect on floods is mostly through modulating various aspects of precipitation events, significant ENSO signals in precipitation cannot always translate to an effective, simultaneous impact on floods.

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 678-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Curtis ◽  
Ahmed Salahuddin ◽  
Robert F. Adler ◽  
George J. Huffman ◽  
Guojun Gu ◽  
...  

Abstract Global monthly and daily precipitation extremes are examined in relation to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon. For each month around the annual cycle and in each 2.5° grid block, extremes in the Global Precipitation Climatology Project dataset are defined as the top five (wet) and bottom five (dry) mean rain rates from 1979 to 2004. Over the tropical oceans El Niño–Southern Oscillation events result in a spatial redistribution and overall increase in extremes. Restricting the analysis to land shows that El Niño is associated with an increase in frequency of dry extremes and a decrease in wet extremes resulting in no change in net extreme months. During La Niña an increase in frequency of dry extremes and no change in wet extremes are observed. Thus, because of the juxtaposition of tropical land areas with the ascending branches of the global Walker Circulation, El Niño (La Niña) contributes to generally dry (wet) conditions in these land areas. In addition, daily rain rates computed from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis are used to define extreme precipitation frequency locally as the number of days within a given season that exceeded the 95th percentile of daily rainfall for all seasons (1998–2005). During this period, the significant relationships between extreme daily precipitation frequency and Niño-3.4 in the Tropics are spatially similar to the significant relationships between seasonal mean rainfall and Niño-3.4. However, to address the shortness of the record extreme daily precipitation frequency is also related to seasonal rainfall for the purpose of identifying regions where positive seasonal rainfall anomalies can be used as proxies for extreme events. Finally, the longer (1979–2005) but coarser Global Precipitation Climatology Project analysis is reexamined to pinpoint regions likely to experience an increase in extreme precipitation during El Niño–Southern Oscillation events. Given the significance of El Niño–Southern Oscillation predictions, this information will enable the efficient use of resources in preparing for and mitigating the adverse effects of extreme precipitation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Higgins ◽  
V. E. Kousky

Abstract Changes in observed daily precipitation over the conterminous United States between two 30-yr periods (1950–79 and 1980–2009) are examined using a 60-yr daily precipitation analysis obtained from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Unified Raingauge Database. Several simple measures are used to characterize the changes, including mean, frequency, intensity, and return period. Seasonality is accounted for by examining each measure for four nonoverlapping seasons. The possible role of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle as an explanation for differences between the two periods is also examined. There have been more light (1 mm ≤ P < 10 mm), moderate (10 mm ≤ P < 25 mm), and heavy (P ≥ 25 mm) daily precipitation events (P) in many regions of the country during the more recent 30-yr period with some of the largest and most spatially coherent increases over the Great Plains and lower Mississippi Valley during autumn and winter. Some regions, such as portions of the Southeast and the Pacific Northwest, have seen decreases, especially during the winter. Increases in multiday heavy precipitation events have been observed in the more recent period, especially over portions of the Great Plains, Great Lakes, and Northeast. These changes are associated with changes in the mean and frequency of daily precipitation during the more recent 30-yr period. Difference patterns are strongly related to the ENSO cycle and are consistent with the stronger El Niño events during the more recent 30-yr period. Return periods for both heavy and light daily precipitation events during 1950–79 are shorter during 1980–2009 at most locations, with some notable regional exceptions.


Author(s):  
Ya Huang ◽  
Ling Yi ◽  
Weihua Xiao ◽  
Guibing Hou ◽  
Yuyan Zhou

Abstract Understanding changes in the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation is vital for flood control, disaster mitigation, and water resource management. In this study, 12 extreme precipitation indices and the best-fitting extreme value distribution were used to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of extreme precipitation in the upper reaches of the Hongshui River Basin (UHRB). The possible links between extreme precipitation and large-scale circulation were also investigated. Most extreme precipitation indices increased from west to east in the UHRB, indicating that the eastern region is a humid area with abundant precipitation. The indices for consecutive wet days (CWD) and precipitation events (R0.1) decreased significantly, indicating that the UHRB tends to be dry, with few precipitation events. The probability distribution functions of most extreme precipitation indices, especially that of R0.1, shifted significantly to the left in 1988–2016 compared with 1959–1987, further indicating that the UHRB has experienced a significant drying trend in recent decades. The East Asian summer monsoon and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation/Pacific Decadal Oscillation were confirmed to influence extreme precipitation in the UHRB. These findings are helpful for understanding extreme precipitation variation trends in the UHRB and provide references for further research.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 584
Author(s):  
Moussa Diakhaté ◽  
Roberto Suárez-Moreno ◽  
Iñigo Gómara ◽  
Elsa Mohino

In this paper, the sea surface temperature (SST) based statistical seasonal forecast model (S4CAST) is utilized to examine the spatial and temporal prediction skill of Sahel heavy and extreme daily precipitation events. As in previous studies, S4CAST points out the Mediterranean Sea and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) as the main drivers of Sahel heavy/extreme daily rainfall variability at interannual timescales (period 1982–2015). Overall, the Mediterranean Sea emerges as a seasonal short-term predictor of heavy daily rainfall (1 month in advance), while ENSO returns a longer forecast window (up to 3 months in advance). Regarding the spatial skill, the response of heavy daily rainfall to the Mediterranean SST forcing is significant over a widespread area of the Sahel. Contrastingly, with the ENSO forcing, the response is only significant over the southernmost Sahel area. These differences can be attributed to the distinct physical mechanisms mediating the analyzed SST-rainfall teleconnections. This paper provides fundamental elements to develop an operational statistical-seasonal forecasting system of Sahel heavy and extreme daily precipitation events.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (16) ◽  
pp. 5879-5896 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Pierce ◽  
Daniel R. Cayan ◽  
Tapash Das ◽  
Edwin P. Maurer ◽  
Norman L. Miller ◽  
...  

Abstract Climate model simulations disagree on whether future precipitation will increase or decrease over California, which has impeded efforts to anticipate and adapt to human-induced climate change. This disagreement is explored in terms of daily precipitation frequency and intensity. It is found that divergent model projections of changes in the incidence of rare heavy (>60 mm day−1) daily precipitation events explain much of the model disagreement on annual time scales, yet represent only 0.3% of precipitating days and 9% of annual precipitation volume. Of the 25 downscaled model projections examined here, 21 agree that precipitation frequency will decrease by the 2060s, with a mean reduction of 6–14 days yr−1. This reduces California's mean annual precipitation by about 5.7%. Partly offsetting this, 16 of the 25 projections agree that daily precipitation intensity will increase, which accounts for a model average 5.3% increase in annual precipitation. Between these conflicting tendencies, 12 projections show drier annual conditions by the 2060s and 13 show wetter. These results are obtained from 16 global general circulation models downscaled with different combinations of dynamical methods [Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), Regional Spectral Model (RSM), and version 3 of the Regional Climate Model (RegCM3)] and statistical methods [bias correction with spatial disaggregation (BCSD) and bias correction with constructed analogs (BCCA)], although not all downscaling methods were applied to each global model. Model disagreements in the projected change in occurrence of the heaviest precipitation days (>60 mm day−1) account for the majority of disagreement in the projected change in annual precipitation, and occur preferentially over the Sierra Nevada and Northern California. When such events are excluded, nearly twice as many projections show drier future conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 97-115
Author(s):  
X Kong ◽  
A Wang ◽  
X Bi ◽  
J Wei

To evaluate and clarify the daily precipitation characteristics (i.e. amount, frequency and intensity) of the regional climate models (RCMs) in China, long-term simulations were carried out using RegCM4.5 and Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF), which were nested within the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)’s 20th century reanalysis (ERA-20C) between 1901 and 2010. The 2 RCMs were initially run at a resolution of 50 km. Analyses mainly compared the model-simulated climatic means and interannual variations of precipitation characteristics with those of dense and high-quality station observations (STN) from 1961-2010. Both models satisfactorily reproduced the seasonal mean precipitation amount, but they overestimated its frequency and underestimated its intensity. Extreme rainfall frequency was also underestimated by both RCMs. In winter (DJF), the interannual variabilities in dry days, light precipitation and moderate precipitation were well represented by both models. However, they poorly reproduced the counterparts of extreme precipitation in winter. In summer (JJA), the 2 RCMs performed well in simulating the interannual variability of extreme precipitation. Comparably, RegCM outperformed WRF in reproducing the spatial patterns of precipitation amount, interannual variations in extreme precipitation and rain events. By contrast, WRF better represented precipitation frequency in different sub-regions overall. Moreover, when the horizontal resolution of RegCM was increased from 50 to 25 km, there was a slight improvement in the representation of precipitation amount and intensity. Our results show that RCMs perform well in reproducing actual climatic means and interannual variations of daily precipitation characteristics in China, and that high-resolution RCM simulations can produce improved results for precipitation amount and intensity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (17) ◽  
pp. 6960-6978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuangmei Ma ◽  
Tianjun Zhou ◽  
Aiguo Dai ◽  
Zhenyu Han

Abstract In this study, daily precipitation (P) records for 1960–2013 from 632 stations in China were homogenized and then applied to study the changes in the frequency of dry (P = 0) and trace (0 < P < 0.1 mm day−1) days and all precipitation events (P ≥ 0.1 mm day−1), and the frequency and accumulated amount of precipitation at different intensities. Over China as a whole, very heavy precipitation (P ≥ 50 mm day) events have increased significantly from 1960 to 2013, while light (0.1 ≤ P < 10 mm day−1) and moderate (10 ≤ P < 25 mm day−1) events have decreased significantly, accompanying the significant increases of dry days and decreases of trace days. This indicates a shift from light to intense precipitation, implying increased risks of drought and floods over China since 1960. Although the consistent increases of dry days and decreases of trace days and light and total precipitation days are seen over most of China, changes in other precipitation categories exhibit clear regional differences. Over the Yangtze River valley and southeast China, very heavy precipitation events have increased while light precipitation events have decreased. However, positive trends are seen for all precipitation categories over northwest China, while trends are generally negative over southwest, northeast, and northern China. To examine the association with global warming, the dependence of the precipitation change for each intensity category over China on global-mean temperature was analyzed using interannual to decadal variations. Results show that dry and trace days and very light and very heavy precipitation events exhibit larger changes per unit global warming than medium-intensity precipitation events.


2012 ◽  
Vol 573-574 ◽  
pp. 395-399
Author(s):  
Yong Wang ◽  
Yuan Yuan Ding ◽  
Qi Long Miao

Based on the daily precipitation data in Northeast China (NE China) from 1961 to 2010, six extreme precipitation indices (RX1day, Rx5day, R10mm, R20mm, R95T, and R99T) in NE China were calculated, and the temporal and spatial characteristics of extreme precipitation events were analyzed. The main results are summarized as follows: Except R99T, other extreme precipitation indicators all show the decreasing trend. All indicators are not significant. From the spatial distribution of extreme precipitation indicators, extreme precipitation indicators have different change situations in various regions, and the decreasing trends are dominant. This shows that the climate has become dry in NE China. It is important to forecast and reduce the climate induced flood risks and provide information for rational countermeasures.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Pritchard ◽  
Elizabeth Lewis ◽  
Hayley Fowler ◽  
Stephen Blenkinsop ◽  
Anna Whitford

<p>Short duration precipitation extremes can lead to severe flash flooding and destructive landslides. Yet many gaps remain in our understanding of these acute precipitation events, partly due to the lack of accessible and high quality sub-daily observational datasets available to researchers. To address this problem, the INTENSE project (leading the GEWEX Hydroclimatology Panel Cross-Cutting Project on Sub-Daily Extremes) has coordinated a major international effort to collate sub-daily precipitation observations from around the world. The resulting Global Sub-Daily Rainfall (GSDR) dataset contains hourly precipitation records from over 20,000 gauges globally. The quality of the raw data underpinning the GSDR dataset is variable, so an automated and wide-ranging quality control procedure has been developed and applied to the records. To facilitate research and other applications of the dataset, we have defined and calculated a novel set of sub-daily precipitation indices. These indices complement and extend the ETCCDI daily precipitation indices by characterising key aspects of shorter duration precipitation variability, including intensity, duration and frequency properties. Project partners and other collaborators continue to augment the resulting indices database by performing the calculations on their own observations and sharing these with the INTENSE project, with new contributors always welcome. This combined effort has led to an extensive observation-based climatology of various sub-daily precipitation characteristics (including extremes) across large parts of the world. These indices will be publicly available for as many gauges as possible, alongside a gridded dataset that also incorporates indices calculated for additional restricted-access gauge records.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackson Tan ◽  
Walter A. Petersen ◽  
Pierre-Emmanuel Kirstetter ◽  
Yudong Tian

Abstract The Integrated Multisatellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG), a global high-resolution gridded precipitation dataset, will enable a wide range of applications, ranging from studies on precipitation characteristics to applications in hydrology to evaluation of weather and climate models. These applications focus on different spatial and temporal scales and thus average the precipitation estimates to coarser resolutions. Such a modification of scale will impact the reliability of IMERG. In this study, the performance of the Final Run of IMERG is evaluated against ground-based measurements as a function of increasing spatial resolution (from 0.1° to 2.5°) and accumulation periods (from 0.5 to 24 h) over a region in the southeastern United States. For ground reference, a product derived from the Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor suite, a radar- and gauge-based operational precipitation dataset, is used. The TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) is also included as a benchmark. In general, both IMERG and TMPA improve when scaled up to larger areas and longer time periods, with better identification of rain occurrences and consistent improvements in systematic and random errors of rain rates. Between the two satellite estimates, IMERG is slightly better than TMPA most of the time. These results will inform users on the reliability of IMERG over the scales relevant to their studies.


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