scholarly journals Projected changes of rainfall event characteristics for the Czech Republic

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtěch Svoboda ◽  
Martin Hanel ◽  
Petr Máca ◽  
Jan Kyselý

Abstract Projected changes of warm season (May–September) rainfall events in an ensemble of 30 regional climate model (RCM) simulations are assessed for the Czech Republic. Individual rainfall events are identified using the concept of minimum inter-event time and only heavy events are considered. The changes of rainfall event characteristics are evaluated between the control (1981–2000) and two scenario (2020–2049 and 2070–2099) periods. Despite a consistent decrease in the number of heavy rainfall events, there is a large uncertainty in projected changes in seasonal precipitation total due to heavy events. Most considered characteristics (rainfall event depth, mean rainfall rate, maximum 60-min rainfall intensity and indicators of rainfall event erosivity) are projected to increase and larger increases appear for more extreme values. Only rainfall event duration slightly decreases in the more distant scenario period according to the RCM simulations. As a consequence, the number of less extreme heavy rainfall events as well as the number of long events decreases in majority of the RCM simulations. Changes in most event characteristics (and especially in characteristics related to the rainfall intensity) depend on changes in radiative forcing and temperature for the future periods. Only changes in the number of events and seasonal total due to heavy events depend significantly on altitude.

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 963-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtěch Svoboda ◽  
Martin Hanel ◽  
Petr Máca ◽  
Jan Kyselý

Abstract. Characteristics of rainfall events in an ensemble of 23 regional climate model (RCM) simulations are evaluated against observed data in the Czech Republic for the period 1981–2000. Individual rainfall events are identified using the concept of minimum inter-event time (MIT) and only heavy events (15 % of events with the largest event depths) during the warm season (May–September) are considered. Inasmuch as an RCM grid box represents a spatial average, the effects of areal averaging of rainfall data on characteristics of events are investigated using the observed data. Rainfall events from the RCM simulations are then compared to those from the at-site and area-average observations. Simulated number of heavy events and seasonal total precipitation due to heavy events are on average represented relatively well despite the higher spatial variation compared to observations. RCM-simulated event depths are comparable to the area-average observations, while event durations are overestimated and other characteristics related to rainfall intensity are significantly underestimated. The differences between RCM-simulated and at-site observed rainfall event characteristics are in general dominated by the biases of the climate models rather than the areal-averaging effect. Most of the rainfall event characteristics in the majority of the RCM simulations show a similar altitude-dependence pattern as in the observed data. The number of heavy events and seasonal total precipitation due to heavy events increase with altitude, and this dependence is captured better by the RCM simulations with higher spatial resolution.


RBRH ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 653-665
Author(s):  
Rubia Girardi ◽  
Adilson Pinheiro ◽  
Edson Torres ◽  
Vander Kaufmann ◽  
Luis Hamilton Pospissil Garbossa

ABSTRACT Studies carried out over short time intervals assist in understanding the biogeochemical processes occurring relatively fast in natural waters. High frequency monitoring shows a greater variability in the water quality during and immediately after heavy rainfall events. This paper presents an assessment of the surface water quality parameters in the Atlantic Forest biome, caused by heavy rainfall events. The work was developed in two fluviometric sections of the Concordia River watershed, located in the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. The spatial distribution of land use shows the predominance of Atlantic Forest in fluviometric section 1 (FS1) and pasture, forestry, agriculture, and Atlantic Forest in fluviometric section 2 (FS2). In each selected heavy rainfall event, the evolution rainfall height, the water level, and physicochemical parameters of water were analyzed. In all events, the water quality changed due to the heavy rainfall. After the events, an increase in water level and turbidity in both fluviometric sections were detected. In addition, the ammonium ion concentration increased in the river, and the pH value and nitrate concentration decreased. The electrical conductivity presented different behavior in each section. The dissolved oxygen concentration increased in 19 of 27 events. The principal component (PC1) correlated with the turbidity in FS1, and it correlated with level, turbidity, and pH in FS2.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommaso Piacentini ◽  
Alberto Galli ◽  
Vincenzo Marsala ◽  
Enrico Miccadei

Soil erosion induced by heavy rainfall deeply affects landscape changes and human activities. It depends on rainfall distribution (e.g., intensity, duration, cumulative per event) and is controlled by the interactions between lithology, orography, hydrography, land use, and vegetation. The Abruzzo piedmont coastal hilly area has been affected by several heavy rainfall events in the last decades. In this work, we investigated three ~1-day heavy rainfall (>35 mm/h and 100–220 mm/day) events in 2007, 2011, and 2012 that occurred in the clayey hilly coastal NE Abruzzo area, analyzing cumulative rainfall, intensity, and duration while mapping triggered geomorphological effects (soil erosion and accumulation) and evaluating average erosion. The analysis provides contributions to a soil erosion assessment of clayey landscapes that characterizes the Adriatic hilly area, with an estimation of rainfall-triggering thresholds for heavy soil erosion and a comparison of erosion in single events with rates known in the Mediterranean area. The triggering threshold for heavy soil erosion shows an expected value of ~100–110 mm. The estimated average soil erosion is from moderate to high (0.08–3.08 cm in ~1-day heavy rainfall events) and shows a good correlation with cumulative rainfall and a poor correlation with peak rainfall intensity. This work outlines the strong impact of soil erosion on the landscape changes in the Abruzzo and Adriatic hilly areas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dev Niyogi ◽  
Ming Lei ◽  
Chandra Kishtawal ◽  
Paul Schmid ◽  
Marshall Shepherd

Abstract The relationship between rainfall characteristics and urbanization over the eastern United States was examined by analyzing four datasets: daily rainfall in 4593 surface stations over the last 50 years (1958–2008), a high-resolution gridded rainfall product, reanalysis wind data, and a proxy for urban land use (gridded human population data). Results indicate that summer monthly rainfall amounts show an increasing trend in urbanized regions. The frequency of heavy rainfall events has a potential positive bias toward urbanized regions. Most notably, consistent with case studies for individual cities, the climatology of rainfall amounts downwind of urban–rural boundaries shows a significant increasing trend. Analysis of heavy (90th percentile) and extreme (99.5th percentile) rainfall events indicated decreasing trends of heavy rainfall events and a possible increasing trend for extreme rainfall event frequency over urban areas. Results indicate that the urbanization impact was more pronounced in the northeastern and midwestern United States with an increase in rainfall amounts. In contrast, the southeastern United States showed a slight decrease in rainfall amounts and heavy rainfall event frequencies. Results suggest that the urbanization signature is becoming detectable in rainfall climatology as an anthropogenic influence affecting regional precipitation; however, extracting this signature is not straightforward and requires eliminating other dynamical confounding feedbacks.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Marsala ◽  
Tommaso Piacentini ◽  
Alberto Galli

<p>Soil erosion induced by heavy rainfall deeply affects landscape changes and human activities. It depends on rainfall distribution (e.g., intensity, duration, cumulative) and is controlled by the interaction among several factors including lithology, orography, hydrography, land-use, and vegetation. The Abruzzo piedmont-coastal area features a clayey hilly landscape that is historically affected by heavy rainfalls. In the last decades, it was affected by several heavy rainfall events in close sequence. In this work, we investigated some~1-day heavy rainfall (>35 mm/h and 100-220 mm/d) events occurred in 2007, 2011, and 2012 that affected the clayey hilly-coastal NE Abruzzo area. We analyzed cumulative rainfall, intensity and duration, mapping triggered geomorphological effects (soil erosion and accumulation) and evaluating average erosion.</p><p>The analysis provides contributions to the soil erosion assessment on clayey landscapes that characterizes the Adriatic hilly area, to the estimation of rainfall triggering thresholds for heavy soil erosion, and to a comparison of erosion in single events with rates known in the Mediterranean area. Comparing the different areas and cases investigated, the triggering threshold for heavy soil erosion shows an expected value ~100–110 mm. The estimated average soil erosion is from moderate to high (0.08–3.08 cm in ~1-day heavy rainfall events). The investigated relationships show a good correlation of sol erosion with cumulative rainfall, which results to be the most effective triggering factor, and a poor correlation with peak rainfall intensity. Finally, this work outlines the strong impact of soil erosion on the landscape changes in clayey hilly landscapes largely present in Mediterranean environments, such as in the Abruzzo and Adriatic hilly areas.</p>


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 65-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janeček Miloslav ◽  
Tippl Eliška Kubátová and Martin

The evaluation of a series (1961–2000) of ombrographic records from 13 selected stations of Czech Hydrometeorological Institute provided long-term annual summation values and annual peaks of the rainfallrunoff erosivity factor R in the USLE. The evaluation indicated that by defining an erosive rainfall event as (a) rainfall ≥ 12.5 mm or (b) rainfall intensity > 6 mm per 15 minutes, there were on average 8 erosive rainfall events per station, varying from 1 to 25. The long-term summation values of R factor were in the range of 42 to 106 (average 66) and annual peaks ranged from 19 to 38 (average 29). If the criteria (a) and (b) were to be fulfilled simultaneously, there were on average more than 2 erosive rainfall events per year per station, the number varying from 0 to 12. The long-term summation values of R factor ranged from 25 to 67 (average 45), with annual peaks from 17 to 36 (average 27.5). The long-term investigations of soil losses by erosion on experimental runoff plots, near Třebsín (Prague-West district), caused by storms, reveal that these losses were mostly caused by rainfall events satisfying both criteria (a) and (b) at the same time. The results of this investigation suggest that the average value of the erosivity factor R = 20 recommended for the Czech Republic until now should be increased to R = 45 and/or 66, which in practical terms would necessitate more stringent conservation measures.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1122
Author(s):  
Monica Ionita ◽  
Viorica Nagavciuc

The role of the large-scale atmospheric circulation in producing heavy rainfall events and floods in the eastern part of Europe, with a special focus on the Siret and Prut catchment areas (Romania), is analyzed in this study. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the socio-economic impacts of the most extreme flood events (e.g., July 2008, June–July 2010, and June 2020) is given. Analysis of the largest flood events indicates that the flood peaks have been preceded up to 6 days in advance by intrusions of high Potential Vorticity (PV) anomalies toward the southeastern part of Europe, persistent cut-off lows over the analyzed region, and increased water vapor transport over the catchment areas of Siret and Prut Rivers. The vertically integrated water vapor transport prior to the flood peak exceeds 300 kg m−1 s−1, leading to heavy rainfall events. We also show that the implementation of the Flood Management Plan in Romania had positive results during the 2020 flood event compared with the other flood events, when the authorities took several precaution measurements that mitigated in a better way the socio-economic impact and risks of the flood event. The results presented in this study offer new insights regarding the importance of large-scale atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport as drivers of extreme flooding in the eastern part of Europe and could lead to a better flood forecast and flood risk management.


2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 521-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Davis ◽  
Wen-Chau Lee

Abstract The authors analyze the mesoscale structure accompanying two multiday periods of heavy rainfall during the Southwest Monsoon Experiment and the Terrain-Induced Mesoscale Rainfall Experiment conducted over and near Taiwan during May and June 2008. Each period is about 5–6 days long with episodic heavy rainfall events within. These events are shown to correspond primarily to periods when well-defined frontal boundaries are established near the coast. The boundaries are typically 1 km deep or less and feature contrasts of virtual temperature of only 2°–3°C. Yet, owing to the extremely moist condition of the upstream conditionally unstable air, these boundaries appear to exert a profound influence on convection initiation or intensification near the coast. Furthermore, the boundaries, once established, are long lived, possibly reinforced through cool downdrafts and prolonged by the absence of diurnal heating over land in generally cloudy conditions. These boundaries are linked phenomenologically with coastal fronts that occur at higher latitudes.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 875
Author(s):  
Li Zhou ◽  
Lin Xu ◽  
Mingcai Lan ◽  
Jingjing Chen

Heavy rainfall events often cause great societal and economic impacts. The prediction ability of traditional extrapolation techniques decreases rapidly with the increase in the lead time. Moreover, deficiencies of high-resolution numerical models and high-frequency data assimilation will increase the prediction uncertainty. To address these shortcomings, based on the hourly precipitation prediction of Global/Regional Assimilation and Prediction System-Cycle of Hourly Assimilation and Forecast (GRAPES-CHAF) and Shanghai Meteorological Service-WRF ADAS Rapid Refresh System (SMS-WARR), we present an improved weighting method of time-lag-ensemble averaging for hourly precipitation forecast which gives more weight to heavy rainfall and can quickly select the optimal ensemble members for forecasting. In addition, by using the cross-magnitude weight (CMW) method, mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (CC), the verification results of hourly precipitation forecast for next six hours in Hunan Province during the 2019 typhoon Bailu case and heavy rainfall events from April to September in 2020 show that the revised forecast method can more accurately capture the characteristics of the hourly short-range precipitation forecast and improve the forecast accuracy and the probability of detection of heavy rainfall.


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