Physiographic controls on pre-event hydrological states and hydrological response to extreme precipitation in the Alzette River Basin, Luxembourg

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Tamez-Melendez ◽  
Judith Meyer ◽  
Audrey Douinot ◽  
Günter Blöschl ◽  
Laurent Pfister
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Wide Range

<p>The hydrological regime of rivers in Luxembourg (Central Western Europe) is characterised by summer low flows and winter high flows. In winter, large-scale floods are typically triggered by long-lasting sequences of precipitation events, related to westerly atmospheric fluxes that carry wet and temperate air masses from the Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, several flash flood events have been observed in Luxembourg. While being a common feature of Mediterranean river basins, this type of flooding events is uncommon at higher latitudes. The design of the hydro-meteorological monitoring and forecasting systems operated in Luxembourg is not adapted to this type of extreme events and there is a pressing need for a better mechanistic understanding of flash flood triggering mechanisms.</p><p>Here, we explore two lines of research – focusing on (i) the spatio-temporal variability of flash flood generation across a set of 41 nested catchments covering a wide range of physiographic settings (with mixed land use, soil types and bedrock geology) and (ii) the responsivity (resistance) and elasticity (resilience) of these catchments to global change.</p><p>Our area of interest is the Sûre River basin (4,240 km<sup>2</sup>), characterised by a homogenous climate (temperate oceanic), as well as various bedrock (e.g. sandstone, marls, shale) and land use (e.g. forests, grassland, crops, urban areas) types. Based on 8 years’ worth of daily hydrological data (precipitation, discharge and potential evapotranspiration) we computed the increments of the water balance to determine the maximum storage capacity and pre-event wetness state (expressed as storage deficit). Based on the relationship between storage deficit and discharge we first estimated total storage at nearly zero flow conditions. Second, we compared event runoff ratios (Q/P) to pre-hydrological states (as expressed to storage deficit prior to a rainfall-runoff event) in order to assess each catchment’s sensitivity to antecedent wetness conditions. Third, we assessed the responsivity (resistance) and elasticity (resilience) to climate variations – as expressed through the PET/P and AET/P deviations from the Budyko curve – for each individual catchment. Finally, we investigated potential physiographic controls on catchment responsivity and elasticity across our set of 41 nested catchments.</p>

Physiographic controls on pre-event hydrological states and hydrological response to extreme precipitation in the Alzette River Basin, Luxembourg

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Tamez Melendez ◽  
Judith Meyer ◽  
Audrey Douinot ◽  
Günter Blöschl ◽  
Laurent Pfister
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Convective Precipitation ◽  
Hydrological Response ◽  
Local Character ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Oceanic Climate ◽  
Precipitation Events

<p>Flash flood events have caused massive damage on multiple occasions between 2016 and 2018 in several catchments in eastern Luxembourg. This region is very well known for being exposed to large-scale winter floods, commonly triggered by long-lasting advective precipitation events related to westerly atmospheric fluxes. However, flash floods - a truly exceptional phenomenon in this region - are have solely occurred in summer in response to intense convective precipitation events. Thus, because of the rare occurrence and local character of this type of events, the mechanisms eventually controlling a flash flood-type response of a catchment remains poorly understood.  </p><p>Here, we focus on four main objectives: i) the role that physiographic characteristics play on the spatial variability of pre-event hydrological states (as expressed via storage) across a set of 41 nested catchments located in the Sûre River basin (4,240 km<sup>2</sup>), Luxembourg, ii) the hydrological response to precipitation controlled by those pre-event hydrological states, iii) the responsivity (resistance) and elasticity (resilience) of the catchments to global change, and iv) the relation between water yields and the offsets from Budyko curve and its related energy limits.</p><p>The area of interest is not only characterised by a homogenous temperate oceanic climate but also by heterogeneous physiographical conditions and land use, which makes it ideal for this study. We used 8 years’ worth hydrological data (precipitation, discharge and potential evapotranspiration) to calculate the increments of the water balance and determine the maximum storage capacity and storage deficits. Second, we used the relationship between storage deficit and discharge to estimate total storage at a hypothetical nearly zero flow condition. Third, we compared the pre-hydrological states and event runoff ratios (Q/P) to the catchments’ physiographical conditions in order to link catchment’s sensitivity to storage metrics. We then assessed the responsivity and elasticity to climate and anthropogenic variations – as expressed through the PET/P and AET/P deviations from the Budyko curve and energy limits– for each individual catchment. Finally, we investigated the catchment’s area control on responsivity, elasticity, water yields and Budyko’s elements across our set of 41 nested catchments.</p>

scholarly journals Copula-Based Abrupt Variations Detection in the Relationship of Seasonal Vegetation-Climate in the Jing River Basin, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 1628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Shengzhi Huang ◽  
Qiang Huang ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Guoyong Leng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Change Points ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
The Relationship

Understanding the changing relationships between vegetation coverage and precipitation/temperature (P/T) and then exploring their potential drivers are highly necessary for ecosystem management under the backdrop of a changing environment. The Jing River Basin (JRB), a typical eco-environmentally vulnerable region of the Loess Plateau, was chosen to identify abrupt variations of the relationships between seasonal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and P/T through a copula-based method. By considering the climatic/large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns and human activities, the potential causes of the non-stationarity of the relationship between NDVI and P/T were revealed. Results indicated that (1) the copula-based framework introduced in this study is more reasonable and reliable than the traditional double-mass curves method in detecting change points of vegetation and climate relationships; (2) generally, no significant change points were identified during 1982–2010 at the 95% confidence level, implying the overall stationary relationship still exists, while the relationships between spring NDVI and P/T, autumn NDVI and P have slightly changed; (3) teleconnection factors (including Arctic Oscillation (AO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Niño 3.4, and sunspots) have a more significant influence on the relationship between seasonal NDVI and P/T than local climatic factors (including potential evapotranspiration and soil moisture); (4) negative human activities (expansion of farmland and urban areas) and positive human activities (“Grain For Green” program) were also potential factors affecting the relationship between NDVI and P/T. This study provides a new and reliable insight into detecting the non-stationarity of the relationship between NDVI and P/T, which will be beneficial for further revealing the connection between the atmosphere and ecosystems.

scholarly journals Impact of Atmospheric Circulation on Flooding Occurrence and Type in Luxembourg (Central Western Europe)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Meyer ◽  
Audrey Douinot ◽  
Erwin Zehe ◽  
Carol Tamez-Meléndez ◽  
Olivier Francis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Flash Flood ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Intense Rainfall ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Winter Flood

<p>In the second half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, hydrological regimes in central Western Europe were largely characterised by large-scale winter floods. This type of event was predominantly triggered by westerly atmospheric fluxes, bringing moist and mild air masses from the Atlantic Ocean to the European continent. Since the late 1990’s, major flooding events seem to have shifted in time and magnitude. Flash flood events, while being a well-known phenomenon in Mediterranean catchments, are increasingly also reported at higher latitudes. Unlike the large-scale winter flood events, flash floods are of very narrow spatial extension and triggered by rather short, but highly intense rainfall events.</p><p>Here, we focus on the specific case of rivers in Luxembourg that have experienced several flash flood events in recent years, while only small to moderate winter flood events have been reported since the late 1990’s. National hydro-meteorological monitoring and flood forecasting systems have been designed for large-scale floods and are not suited for simulating local flash flood events. Therefore, there is a need to increase our understanding of the hydro-meteorological processes underlying flash flood occurrences in our area of interest.</p><p>While increasing air temperature is known to allow a higher air moisture content that can lead to more intense rainfall events and possible flooding, we moreover hypothesize that the recent increase in flash flood occurrences in Luxembourg is reinforced by a change in atmospheric circulation patterns. To test this hypothesis, we analyse the prevailing atmospheric patterns on rainy days during summer and winter months over the period 1954 - 2019, with a particular focus on rainfall events that lead to moderate and extreme floods. In a next step, we intend to extend our findings for Luxembourg in a larger European context. This analysis should allow to better assess the current situation of hydrological extreme events in central Western Europe in order to take precaution measures and prepare for a diversifying hazard.</p>

scholarly journals Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe: A Synthesis of National Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 117862212110281
Author(s):  
Nieves Fernandez-Anez ◽  
Andrey Krasovskiy ◽  
Mortimer Müller ◽  
Harald Vacik ◽  
Jan Baetens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Local Analysis ◽  
Wildland Fires ◽  
Fire Statistics ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fire Patterns

Changes in climate, land use, and land management impact the occurrence and severity of wildland fires in many parts of the world. This is particularly evident in Europe, where ongoing changes in land use have strongly modified fire patterns over the last decades. Although satellite data by the European Forest Fire Information System provide large-scale wildland fire statistics across European countries, there is still a crucial need to collect and summarize in-depth local analysis and understanding of the wildland fire condition and associated challenges across Europe. This article aims to provide a general overview of the current wildland fire patterns and challenges as perceived by national representatives, supplemented by national fire statistics (2009–2018) across Europe. For each of the 31 countries included, we present a perspective authored by scientists or practitioners from each respective country, representing a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The authors were selected from members of the COST Action “Fire and the Earth System: Science & Society” funded by the European Commission with the aim to share knowledge and improve communication about wildland fire. Where relevant, a brief overview of key studies, particular wildland fire challenges a country is facing, and an overview of notable recent fire events are also presented. Key perceived challenges included (1) the lack of consistent and detailed records for wildland fire events, within and across countries, (2) an increase in wildland fires that pose a risk to properties and human life due to high population densities and sprawl into forested regions, and (3) the view that, irrespective of changes in management, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of wildland fires in the coming decades. Addressing challenge (1) will not only be valuable in advancing national and pan-European wildland fire management strategies, but also in evaluating perceptions (2) and (3) against more robust quantitative evidence.

scholarly journals Agricultural land use and cover change in the Cerrado/Amazon ecotone: A case study of the upper Teles Pires River basin

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Sousa Rodrigues ZAIATZ ◽  
Cornélio Alberto ZOLIN ◽  
Laurimar Goncalves VENDRUSCULO ◽  
Tarcio Rocha LOPES ◽  
Janaina PAULINO
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Direct Conversion ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Error Matrix ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Land Use And Cover

ABSTRACT The upper Teles Pires River basin is a key hydrological resource for the state of Mato Grosso, but has suffered rapid land use and cover change. The basin includes areas of Cerrado biome, as well as transitional areas between the Amazon and Cerrado vegetation types, with intensive large-scale agriculture widely-spread throughout the region. The objective of this study was to explore the spatial and temporal dynamics of land use and cover change from 1986 to 2014 in the upper Teles Pires basin using remote sensing and GIS techniques. TM (Thematic Mapper) and TIRS (Thermal Infrared Sensor) sensor images aboard the Landsat 5 and Landsat 8, respectively, were employed for supervised classification using the “Classification Workflow” in ENVI 5.0. To evaluate classification accuracy, an error matrix was generated, and the Kappa, overall accuracy, errors of omission and commission, user accuracy and producer accuracy indexes calculated. The classes showing greatest variation across the study period were “Agriculture” and “Rainforest”. Results indicated that deforested areas are often replaced by pasture and then by agriculture, while direct conversion of forest to agriculture occured less frequently. The indices with satisfactory accuracy levels included the Kappa and Global indices, which showed accuracy levels above 80% for all study years. In addition, the producer and user accuracy indices ranged from 59-100% and 68-100%, while the errors of omission and commission ranged from 0-32% and 0-40.6%, respectively.

scholarly journals Urbanization and Increasing Flood Risk in the Northern Coast of Central Java—Indonesia: An Assessment towards Better Land Use Policy and Flood Management

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 343
Author(s):  
Wiwandari Handayani ◽  
Uchendu Eugene Chigbu ◽  
Iwan Rudiarto ◽  
Intan Hapsari Surya Putri
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Flood Management ◽  
Spatial Data Analysis ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Central Java

This study explores urbanization and flood events in the northern coast of Central Java with river basin as its unit of analysis. Two types of analysis were applied (i.e., spatial data and non-spatial data analysis) at four river basin areas in Central Java—Indonesia. The spatial analysis is focused on the assessment of LULC change in 2009–2018 based on Landsat Imagery. The non-spatial data (i.e., rural-urban classification and flood events) were overlaid with results of spatial data analyses. Our findings show that urbanization, as indicated by the growth rate of built-up areas, is very significant. Notable exposure to flood has taken place in the urban and potentially urban areas. The emerging discussion indicates that river basins possess dual spatial identity in the urban system (policy- and land-use-related). Proper land use planning and control is an essential instrument to safeguard urban areas (such as the case study area) and the entire island of Java in Indonesia. More attention should be put upon the river basin areas in designing eco-based approach to tackle the urban flood crises. In this case, the role of governance in flood management is crucial.

scholarly journals Assessment of Switchgrass-Based Bioenergy Supply Using GIS-Based Fuzzy Logic and Network Optimization in Missouri (U.S.A.)

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4516
Author(s):  
Huynh Truong Gia Nguyen ◽  
Erik Lyttek ◽  
Pankaj Lal ◽  
Taylor Wieczerak ◽  
Pralhad Burli
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Network Optimization ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Geographical Information Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Analytical Approaches

Bioenergy has been globally recognized as one of the sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. An assured supply of biomass feedstocks is a crucial bottleneck for the bioenergy industry emanating from uncertainties in land-use changes and future prices. Analytical approaches deriving from geographical information systems (GIS)-based analysis, mathematical modeling, optimization analyses, and empirical techniques have been widely used to evaluate the potential for bioenergy feedstock. In this study, we propose a three-phase methodology integrating fuzzy logic, network optimization, and ecosystem services assessment to estimate potential bioenergy supply. The fuzzy logic analysis uses multiple spatial criteria to identify suitable biomass cultivating regions. We extract spatial information based on favorable conditions and potential constraints, such as developed urban areas and croplands. Further, the network analysis uses the road network and existing biorefineries to evaluate feedstock production locations. Our analysis extends previous studies by incorporating biodiversity and ecologically sensitive areas into the analysis, as well as incorporating ecosystem service benefits as an additional driver for adoption, ensuring that biomass cultivation will minimize the negative consequences of large-scale land-use change. We apply the concept of assessing the potential for switchgrass-based bioenergy in Missouri to the proposed methodology.

The impacts of urbanisation on urban soil carbon – a study from Manchester, UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roisin ORiordan ◽  
Jess Davies ◽  
Carly Stevens ◽  
John Quinton ◽  
Christopher Boyko
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Content ◽  
Field Study ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Soil ◽  
Urban Soils ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Anthropogenic Soils ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Wide Range

<p>The study of anthropogenic soils is a growing area of interest, and as cities continue to expand, urban soils are heavily influenced by human activities. Urbanisation exhibits a wide range of impacts on soil, from buried horizons, compaction, sealing with impervious surfaces, additions of anthropogenic material to being largely man-made soils, or technosols. The properties of urban soil are further complicated by the addition of fertilisers, management strategies in greenspaces and the treatments of soil, including topsoil removal, during construction projects. Therefore, the properties and functions of anthropogenic soils differ notably to that of natural soils, and as such, there is a need to understand the dynamics of soil carbon in urban areas.</p><p>Research on urban soil carbon has been relatively limited, however there is recent growth in this area due to its importance, firstly, as a carbon store contributing to climate regulation, and secondly, in relation to the potential of urban soil to support numerous ecosystem services. Urban soils are highly heterogeneous and anthropogenic carbon additions can come from many current or historical sources, such as charcoal used in old roads, coal ash from power stations, carbon from car tyres, as well as inorganic carbonates in limestone road foundations. Understanding the current stores of carbon, as well as how stable it is, is important to understand likely carbon dynamics and storage potential.</p><p>This work presents a field study across Manchester (UK) where soil carbon data has been collected from soils across urban parks, greenspaces and from under sealed surfaces (roads and pavements). It provides carbon data for a variety of urban contexts and with high spatial variability. We will build on previous work from this field study by presenting i) a typology of urban soils according to anthropogenic content, ii) data for physical size fractionation to understand soil physical properties and texture, and iii) the carbon content of the size fractions to provide a proxy for understanding how labile or stable the carbon is. This will allow us to understand the impacts of soil sealing on the carbon content and build a picture of soil carbon stability across a range of urban situations.</p><p>This research will contribute to the much-needed understanding on how soil carbon behaves in urban areas, and the implications of this for carbon storage in both sealed and urban greenspace soils. </p>

Appearance of atypical Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici phenotypes in north-western Europe

2007 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mogens S. Hovmøller ◽  
Annemarie F. Justesen
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Puccinia Striiformis ◽  
Yellow Rust ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Genetic Interpretation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Diverse Origin ◽  
Large Scale Cultivation ◽  
Short Time

A combination of large-scale cultivation of highly susceptible cultivars and mild winters caused severe yield losses due to yellow rust in NW Europe in the early 1990s, but in recent years the disease has become less predominant. Several atypical Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici pathotypes have been observed in recent years, showing virulence spectra which made them able only to infect cultivars covering less than 5% of the wheat and triticale area in Denmark. Some were even unable to grow on any of the standard ‘European’ and ‘World’ yellow rust differentials. We observed 2 distinct groups of atypical pathotypes, each subdividing into 2 highly divergent AFLP phenotypes. It was striking that AFLP diversity among unusual pathotypes, sampled within a short time period in a small area on very few host cultivars, which induced limited or no selection on the pathogen population, was 3–4 times higher than among isolates sampled from a large number of cultivars with different Yr-genes in 4 different countries during more than 25 years. The repeated occurrence of atypical phenotypes of diverse origin may suggest a more frequent and even more distant dispersal of P. striiformis uredospores than previously anticipated. Finally, the disease reactions conferred by these unusual types on a wide range of differentials were used to discuss the limits for a genetic interpretation in terms of assessment of virulence and avirulence in pathogen isolates.

scholarly journals Flood Risk Index for Land-Use Changes: Case Study of Pakpanang River Basin

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 25-40
Author(s):  
Chonlatid Kittikhun ◽  
Sitang Pilailar ◽  
Suwatana Chittaladakorn ◽  
Eakawat Jhonpadit
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Risk Index ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Flood Depth ◽  
Arc Gis

Flood Risk Index (FRI) is the multi-criteria linked with the factors of vulnerability; exposure, susceptibility, and resilience. In order to establish local FRI, crucial local information have to be accumulated. However, under the limitation of land-use data, particular techniques were applied in this study. CA Markov model was used to analyze the past missing land-use data and, also forecast the future land-use of Pakpanang river basin under conditions of plan and without plan. The ratio changes of forest, agriculture, wetland and water, and urban areas were considered. Then, the result of LULC spatial-temporal changes was then applied to Hec-HMS and Hec-Ras , with Arc GIS extension of Hec-GeoHMS and Hec-GeoRas software, in order to evaluate the flood hydrographs and flood severity in three municipalities corresponding to 100-year return period rainfall. Afterward, the FRI of Pakpanang, Chianyai, and Hua-sai, which ranges from 0 to 1, were evaluated by using the modified FRI equations. It was found that sensitivity analysis in the area of forest on flood depth and inundation areas is incoherent. Nevertheless, without land-use planning, the changes in these three cities cause higher flood risk, where Chianyai is the riskiest as the FRIE is 0.58. Further consideration of FRIE and FRIP proportion that reveals the FRI deviation indicates that to reduce flood risk, Chianyai would need the most resources and highest effort comparison to Pakpanang and Hua-sai.

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