Characterisation of selected extreme flash floods in Europe and implications for flood risk management

Journal of Hydrology

Volumn 394, Issue 1-2, 2010, Pages 118-133

  Marchi, L ^a   Borga, M ^b   Preciso, E ^a   Gaume, E ^c  

^a CNR   (Italy)

^b UNIVERSITY OF PADOVA   (Italy)

^c Laboratoire des Ponts et Chaussées   (France)

Author keywords

Antecedent soil moisture; Climatic regions; Flash flood; Flood risk management; Lag time; Runoff coefficient

Indexed keywords

ANTECEDENT SOIL MOISTURE; CLIMATIC REGIONS; FLASH FLOOD; FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT; LAG-TIME; RUNOFF COEFFICIENT;

CATCHMENTS; DATA HANDLING; FLOOD CONTROL; LANDFORMS; MOISTURE DETERMINATION; RISK ANALYSIS; RISK MANAGEMENT; RUNOFF; SOIL MOISTURE; SURVEYS; WATERSHEDS; WEATHER FORECASTING;

FLOODS;

ALPINE ENVIRONMENT; CATCHMENT; CLIMATIC REGION; DRAINAGE BASIN; FLASH FLOOD; FLOOD CONTROL; FORECASTING METHOD; HAZARD ASSESSMENT; HYDROLOGICAL MODELING; HYDROLOGICAL RESPONSE; HYDROMETEOROLOGY; IDENTIFICATION METHOD; RESOLUTION; RISK FACTOR; RUNOFF; SATURATION; SEASONALITY; SOIL MOISTURE; VELOCITY; WATERSHED;

BLACK SEA; EUROPE; MEDITERRANEAN REGION;

EID: 78049295058     PISSN: 00221694     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.07.017     Document Type: Article

References (85)

1. Agència Catalana de l'Aigua, 2006. Estudi d'evaluació de riscos hidràulicos pels desbordaments de les lleres de les conques nord afectades pels aiguats de l'11 al 18 d'octubre de 2005. Proposta d'actuacions. Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona. Technical Report, 633 pp. (in Catalan).
2. Archer D.R., Leesch F., Harwood K. Learning from the extreme River Tyne flood in January 2005. Water and Environment Journal 2007, 21(2):133-141.
3. Barredo J.I. Major flood disasters in Europe: 1950-2005. Natural Hazards 2007, 42(1):125-148. 10.1007/s11069-006-9065-2.
4. Berne A., Delrieu G., Creutin J.-D., Obled C. Temporal and spatial resolution of rainfall measurements required for urban hydrology. Journal of Hydrology 2004, 299(3-4):166-179.
5. Borga M., Boscolo P., Zanon F., Sangati M. Hydrometeorological analysis of the August 29, 2003 flash flood in the eastern Italian Alps. Journal of Hydrometeorology 2007, 8(5):1049-1067.
6. Borga M., Gaume E., Creutin J.D., Marchi L. Surveying flash floods: gauging the ungauged extremes. Hydrological Processes 2008, 22(18):3883-3885. 10.1002/hyp. 7111.
7. Bouilloud, L., Delrieu, G., Boudevillain, B., Kirstetter, P.E., in press. Radar rainfall estimation in the context of post-event analysis of flash floods. Journal of Hydrology. 394 (1-2), 17-27. doi:. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.02.035.
8. Budyko M.I. Climate and Life 1974, Academic Press, New York.
9. Collier C. Flash flood forecasting: what are the limits of predictability?. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 2007, 133(622A):3-23.
10. Collier C., Fox N.J. Assessing the flooding susceptibility of river catchments to extreme rainfall in the United Kingdom. International Journal of River Basin Management 2003, 1(3):1-11.
11. Constantin-Horia B., Simona S., Gabriela P., Adrian S. Human factors in the floods of Romania. Threats to Global Water Security, NATO Science for Peace and Security, Series C: Environmental Security 2009, 187-192. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. J.A.A. Jones, T.G. Vardanian, C. Hakopian (Eds.).
12. Costa J.E. Hydraulics and basin morphometry of the largest flash floods in the conterminous United States. Journal of Hydrology 1987, 93(3-4):313-338.
13. Costa, J.E., Jarrett, R.D., 2008. An evaluation of selected extraordinary floods in the United States reported by the US geological survey and implications for future Advancement of Flood Science. US Geological Survey, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5164, 52 pp.
14. Creutin J.-D., Borga M., Lutoff C., Scolobig A., Ruin U.I., Créton-Cazanave L. Catchment dynamics and social response during flash floods: the potential of radar rainfall monitoring for warning procedures. Meteorological Applications 2009, 16(1):115-125.
15. D'Odorico P., Rigon R. Hillslope and channel contributions to the hydrologic response. Water Resources Research 2003, 39(5):1113. 10.1029/2002WR001708.
16. Dade W.B. Multiple scales in river basin morphology. American Journal of Science 2001, 301:60-73. 10.2475/ajs.301.1.60.
17. Davolio S., Buzzi A., Malguzzi P. Orographic influence on deep convention: case study and sensitivity experiments. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 2006, 15(2):215-223.
18. Delrieu G., Nicol J., Yates E., Kirstetter P.-E., Creutin J.-D., Anquetin S., Obled Ch., Saulnier G.-M., Ducrocq V., Gaume E., Payrastre O., Andrieu H., Ayral P.-A., Bouvier C., Neppel L., Livet M., Lang M., Parent du-Châtelet J., Walpersdorf A., Wobrock W. The catastrophic flash-flood event of 8-9 September 2002 in the Gard Region, France: a first case study for the Cévennes-Vivarais Mediterranean hydrometeorological observatory. Journal of Hydrometeorology 2005, 6(1):34-52.
19. Dingman S.L. Physical Hydrology 2002, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey (USA).
20. Drobot S., Parker D.J. Advances and challenges in flash flood warnings. Environmental Hazards 2007, 7(3):173-178.
21. Furey P.R., Gupta V.K. Effects of excess rainfall on the temporal variability of observed peak-discharge power laws. Advances in Water Resources 2005, 28(11):1240-1253.
22. Gaume, E., 2006. Post Flash-flood investigation - methodological note. Floodsite European Research Project, Report D23.2, 62 pp. http://www.floodsite.net/.
23. Gaume E., Livet M., Desbordes M. Study of the hydrological processes during the Avene river extraordinary flood (south of France): 6-7 October 1997. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 2003, 28(6-7):263-267.
24. Gaume E., Bouvier C. Analyse hydro-pluviométrique des crues du Gard et du Vidourle des 8 et 9 septembre 2002. La Houille Blanche 2004, 6:99-106.
25. Gaume E., Livet M., Desbordes M., Villeneuve J-P. Hydrologic analysis of the Aude, France, flash-flood 12 and 13 November 1999. Journal of Hydrology 2004, 286(1-4):135-154.
26. Gaume E., Borga M. Post-flood field investigations in upland catchments after major flash floods: proposal of a methodology and illustrations. Journal of Flood Risk Management 2008, 1(4):175-189.
27. Gaume E., Bain V., Bernardara P., Newinger O., Barbuc M., Bateman A., Blaškovičová L., Blöschl G., Borga M., Dumitrescu A., Daliakopoulos I., Garcia J., Irimescu A., Kohnova S., Koutroulis A., Marchi L., Matreata S., Medina V., Preciso E., Sempere-Torres D., Stancalie G., Szolgay J., Tsanis I., Velasco D., Viglione A. A compilation of data on European flash floods. Journal of Hydrology 2009, 367(1-2):70-78.
28. Gaume, E., Gaál, L., Viglione, A., Szolgay, J., Kohnová, S. Blöschl., G., in press. Bayesian MCMC approach to regional flood frequency analyses involving extraordinary flood events on ungauged sites. Journal of Hydrology. 394 (1-2), 101-177. doi:. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.01.008.
29. Georgakakos K.P. On the design of national, real-time warning systems with capability for site-specific, flash-flood forecasts. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 1986, 67(10):1233-1239.
30. Goodrich, D.C., 1990. Geometric simplification of a distributed rainfall-runoff model over a range of basin scales. PhD Dissertation, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, The University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
31. Gregory K.J., Gardiner V. Drainage density and climate. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie 1975, 19:287-298.
32. Groisman P.Y., Knight R.W., Karl T.R., Easterling D.R., Sun B., Lawrimore J. Contemporary changes of the hydrological cycle over the contiguous United States: trends. Journal of Hydrometeorology 2004, 5(1):64-85.
33. Groisman P.Y., Knight R.W., Easterling D.R., Karl T.R., Hegerl G.C., Razuvaev V.N. Trends in intense precipitation in the climate record. Journal of Climate 2005, 18(9):1326-1350.
34. Gupta V.K., Castro S.L., Over T.M. On scaling exponents of spatial peak flows from rainfall and river network geometry. Journal of Hydrology 1996, 187(1-2):81-104.
35. Gutknecht, D., Reszler, C., Blöschl, G., 2002. Jahrtausend-Hochwasser am Kamp? http://www.tuwien.ac.at/forschung/nachrichten/a-kamp.htm.
36. Hack, J.T., 1957. Studies of longitudinal stream profiles in Virginia and Maryland. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 294-B, pp. 45-94.
37. Helsel, D.R., Hirsch, R.M., 2002. Statistical methods in water resources. US Geological Survey. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/twri/twri4a3/.
38. Hershfield, D.M., 1961. Rainfall frequency atlas of the United States for durations from 30min to 24h and return periods from 10 to 100years. US Weather Bureau Technical Paper 40, 61 pp.
39. Herschy R.W. The world's maximum observed floods. Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 2002, 13(5-6):231-235.
40. Herschy R.W., Fairbridge R.W. Encyclopedia of Hydrology and Water Resources 1998, Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
41. Huntington T.G. Evidence for intensification of the global water cycle: review and synthesis. Journal of Hydrology 2006, 319(1-4):83-95.
42. James P., Stohl A., Spichtinger N., Eckhardt S., Forster C. Climatological aspects of the extreme European rainfall of August 2002 and a trajectory method for estimating the associated evaporative source regions. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 2004, 4(5-6):733-746.
43. Jothityangkoon C., Sivapalan M. Towards estimation of extreme floods: examination of the roles of runoff process changes and floodplain flows. Journal of Hydrology 2003, 281(3):206-229.
44. Koutroulis A.G., Tsanis I.K. A method for estimating flash flood peak discharge in a poorly gauged basin: Case study for the 13-14 January 1994 flood, Giofiros basin, Crete, Greece. Journal of Hydrology 2010, 385(1-4):150-164. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.02.012.
45. Krajewski W.F., Smith J.A. Radar hydrology: rainfall estimation. Advances in Water Resources 2002, 25(8-12):1387-1394.
46. Kundzewicz Z.W., Ulbrich U., Brücher T., Graczyk D., Krüger A., Leckebusch G.C., Menzel L., Pińskwar I., Radziejewski M., Szwed M. Summer floods in Central Europe - climate change track?. Natural Hazards 2005, 36(1-2):165-189.
47. Llasat M.C., Rigo T., Barriendos M. The "Montserrat-2000" flash-flood event: a comparison with the floods that have occurred in the northeast Iberian Peninsula since the 14th century. International Journal of Climatology 2003, 23(4):453-469.
48. Majerčáková, O., Makeľ, M., Šťastný, P., Kupčo, M., Rončák, P., 2004. Selected Flash Floods in the Slovak Republic. Technical Report, Bratislava, 34 pp.
49. Marchi L., Borga M., Preciso E., Sangati M., Gaume E., Bain V., Delrieu G., Bonnifait L., Pogačnik N. Comprehenive post-event survey of a flash flood in Western Slovenia: observation strategy and lessons learned. Hydrological Processes 2009, 23(26):3761-3770. 10.1002/hyp. 7542.
50. Maritan A., Rigon R., Banavar J.R., Rinaldo A. Network allometry. Geophysical Research Letters 2002, 29(11):1508. 10.1029/2001GL014533.
51. Merz R., Blöschl G. A process typology of regional floods. Water Resources Research 2003, 39(12):1340. 10.1029/2002WR001952.
52. Merz R., Blöschl G. Flood frequency hydrology: 1. Temporal, spatial, and causal expansion of information. Water Resources Research 2008, 44(8):W08432. 10.1029/2007WR006744.
53. Merz R., Blöschl G., Parajka J. Spatio-temporal variability of event runoff coefficients. Journal of Hydrology 2006, 331(3-4):591-604.
54. Morin E., Georgakakos K.P., Shamir U., Garti R., Enzel Y. Objective, observations-based, automatic estimation of the catchment response timescale. Water Resources Research 2002, 38(10):1212. 10.1029/2001WR000808.
55. Norbiato D., Borga M., Sangati M., Zanon F. Regional frequency analysis of extreme precipitation in the eastern Italian Alps and the August 29, 2003 flash flood. Journal of Hydrology 2007, 345(3-4):149-166. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.07.009.
56. Norbiato D., Borga M., Degli Esposti S., Gaume E., Anquetin S. Flash flood warning based on rainfall depth-duration thresholds and soil moisture conditions: an assessment for gauged and ungauged basins. Journal of Hydrology 2008, 362(3-4):274-290. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.08.023.
57. Norbiato, D., Borga, M., Dinale, R., 2009. Flash flood warning in ungauged basins by use of the Flash Flood Guidance and model-based runoff thresholds. Meteorological Applications 16 (1), 65-75. doi:. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/met.126.
58. 2 in the United States and Puerto Rico. Water Resources Research 2004, 40(1):W01107. 10.1029/2003WR002247.
59. Orlanski I. A rational subdivision of scales for atmospheric processes. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 1975, 56(5):527-530.
60. Parajka, J., Kohnová, S., Bálint, G., Barbuc, M., Borga, M., Claps, P., Cheval, S., Gaume, E., Hlavčová, K., Merz, R., Pfaundler, M., Stancalie, G., Szolgay, J., Blöschl, G., in press. Seasonal characteristics of flood regimes across the Alpine-Carpathian range. Journal of Hydrology. 394 (1-2), 78-89. doi:. doi:10.1016/j.hydrol.2010.05.015.
61. Peel M.C., Finlayson B.L., McMahon T.A. Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 2007, 11(5):1633-1644.
62. Pellarin T., Delrieu G., Saulnier G.M., Andrieu H., Vignal B., Creutin J.D. Hydrologic visibility of weather radar systems operating in mountainous regions: case study for the Ardeche catchment (France). Journal of Hydrometeorology 2002, 3(5):539-555.
63. Ponce V.M., Hawkins E.R.H. Runoff curve number: has it reached maturity?. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 1996, 1(1):11-19.
64. Rigon R., Rodriguez-Iturbe I., Giacometti A., Maritan A., Rinaldo A. On Hack's law. Water Resources Research 1996, 32(11):3367-3374.
65. Robinson J.S., Sivapalan M. An investigation into the physical causes of scaling and heterogeneity of regional flood frequency. Water Resources Research 1997, 33(5):1045-1059.
66. Roca M., Davison M. 2D model analysis of flash-flood processes. Application to the Boscastle event. Journal of Flood Risk Management 2010, 3(1):63-71.
67. Ruin I., Creutin J.-D., Anquetin S., Lutoff C. Human exposure to flash-floods - relation between flood parameters and human vulnerability during a storm of September 2002 in Southern France. Journal of Hydrology 2008, 361(1-2):199-213. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.07.044.
68. Rusjan S., Kobold M., Mikoš M. Characteristics of the extreme rainfall event and consequent flash floods in W Slovenia in September 2007. Natural Hazards Earth System Sciences 2009, 9(3):947-956.
69. Sangati M., Borga M., Rabuffetti D., Bechini R. Influence of rainfall and soil properties spatial aggregation on extreme flash flood response modelling: an evaluation based on the Sesia river basin, North Western Italy. Advances in Water Resources 2009, 32(7):1090-1106.
70. Schumacher R.S., Johnson R.H. Characteristics of US extreme rain events during 1999-2003. Weather and Forecasting 2006, 21(1):69-85.
71. Schumm S.A. Evolution of drainage systems and slopes in badlands at Perth Amboy, New Yersey. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 1956, 67:597-646.
72. Schumm, S.A., 1963. The disparity between present rates of denudation and orogeny. United States Geological Survey Prof. Paper 454-H, 13 pp.
73. Sivapalan M., Jothityangkoon C., Menabde M. Linearity and nonlinearity of basin response as a function of scale: discussion of alternative definitions. Water Resources Research 2002, 38(2). 10.1029/2001WR000482.
74. Sivapalan M., Blöschl G., Merz R., Gutknecht D. Linking flood frequency to long-term water balance: Incorporating effects of seasonality. Water Resources Research 2005, 41(6):W06012. 10.1029/2004WR003439.
75. Smith J.A. Representation of basin scale in flood peak distribution. Water Resources Research 1992, 28(11):2993-2999.
76. Smith J.A., Baeck M.L., Steiner M., Miller A.J. Catastrophic rainfall from an upslope thunderstorm in the central Appalachians: the Rapidan storm of June 27, 1995. Water Resources Research 1996, 32(10):3099-3113.
77. Smith J.A., Sturdevant-Rees P., Baeck M.L., Larsen M.C. Tropical cyclones and the flood hydrology of Puerto Rico. Water Resources Research 2005, 41(6):W06020. 10.1029/2004WR003530.
78. Sturdevant-Rees P., Smith J.A., Morrison J., Baeck M.L. Tropical storms and the flood hydrology of the central Appalachians. Water Resources Research 2001, 37(8):2143-2168.
79. Tallaksen L.M. A review of baseflow recession analysis. Journal of Hydrology 1995, 165(1-4):349-370.
80. Trewartha G.T. The Earth's Problem Climates 1981, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. second ed.
81. Turner-Gillespie D.F., Smith J.A., Bates P.D. Attenuating reaches and the regional flood response of an urbanizing drainage basin. Advances in Water Resources 2003, 26(6):673-684.
82. Viglione, A., Borga, M., Balabanis, P., Blöschl, G., in press. Barriers to the exchange of hydrometeorological data across Europe - results from a survey and implications for data policy. Journal of Hydrology. 394 (1-2), 63-77. doi:. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.03.023.
83. Woltemade C.J., Potter K.W. A watershed modeling analysis of fluvial geomorphic influences on flood peak attenuation. Water Resources Research 1994, 30(6):1933-1942.
84. Wood E.F., Sivapalan M., Beven K. Similarity and scale in catchment storm response. Reviews of Geophysics 1990, 28(1):1-18.
85. Woods R.A., Sivapalan M. A synthesis of space-time variability in storm response: rainfall, runoff generation and routing. Water Resources Research 1999, 35(8):2469-2485.