Assessing precipitation distribution impacts on droughts on the island of Crete

Vrochidou, A.-E. K.; Tsanis, Ioannis K.

doi:10.5194/nhess-12-1159-2012

Cited by 25 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…However, precipitation constitutes the critical factor in the occurrence of drought and, therefore, allows for a better understanding of the process by which drought occurs (Vrochidou and Tsanis 2012). The present study only considered precipitation in the characterization of seasonal droughts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of seasonal droughts in Balochistan Province, Pakistan

Ahmed

Shahid

Harun

et al. 2015

Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess

101

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Droughts are usually destructive when they coincide with crop growing season. Cross-seasonal drought characterization can better inform drought mitigation efforts. The present study relies on precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre to reconstruct historical droughts during different climatic seasons in Balochistan province, Pakistan. We identified seasonal drought events based on the standardized precipitation index for each season. The distribution of reconstructed drought events was analyzed to determine their seasonality and to calculate their return periods. Using these return periods, we constructed seasonal drought maps. The study revealed that early winter droughts are frequent in the north of Balochistan, where the return periods of moderate, severe, and extreme droughts are 7, 21, and 55 years, respectively. Severe and extreme late winter droughts are more frequent in the upper north, with return periods of 16 and 35 years, respectively. Early summer droughts occur more frequently in the east, returning every 8, 20, and 60 years; late summer droughts occur in the northeast, with moderate, severe, and extreme droughts returning every 8, 22, and 65 years, respectively. Rabi droughts are more frequently in the central and northeaster regions of Balochistan, while more severe kharif droughts occur primarily in the eastern regions. These seasonal droughts were found to be positively correlated with variations in the seasonal rainfall throughout the study area. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of seasonal drought characteristics and help to inform drought mitigation planning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of seasonal droughts in Balochistan Province, Pakistan

Ahmed

Shahid

Harun

et al. 2015

Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Furthermore, atmospheric numerical models have been found to be useful in assessing precipitation in areas where observations are scarce and estimates are difficult (Maussion et al, 2011). As shown by several authors in multi-year studies, precipitation and flow patterns found on the island of Crete (Greece) have a strong correlation with the island topography (Kotroni et al, 2001;Koletsis et al, 2009Koletsis et al, , 2010Vrochidou and Tsanis, 2012). This connection was found to be an important clue for spatial drought patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…In this work the Weather Research and Forecasting Advance Research (WRF-ARW) model version 3.3 (Skamarock et al, 2008) was used. Initial and lateral boundary conditions from GFS analyses (NCEP, 2003) were provided to the model at six-hour intervals.…”

Section: Methods and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity of the WRF model to the lower boundary in an extreme precipitation event – Madeira island case study

Teixeira

Carvalho

et al. 2014

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The advances in satellite technology in recent years have made feasible the acquisition of high-resolution information on the Earth's surface. Examples of such information include elevation and land use, which have become more detailed. Including this information in numerical atmospheric models can improve their results in simulating lower boundary forced events, by providing detailed information on their characteristics. Consequently, this work aims to study the sensitivity of the weather research and forecast (WRF) model to different topography as well as land-use simulations in an extreme precipitation event. The test case focused on a topographically driven precipitation event over the island of Madeira, which triggered flash floods and mudslides in the southern parts of the island. Difference fields between simulations were computed, showing that the change in the data sets produced statistically significant changes to the flow, the planetary boundary layer structure and precipitation patterns. Moreover, model results show an improvement in model skill in the windward region for precipitation and in the leeward region for wind, in spite of the nonsignificant enhancement in the overall results with higherresolution data sets of topography and land use.

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“…In this respect, our preliminary findings highlight the capacity of Z. abelicea to cope with increasing summer drought conditions. However, these results call for more investigations as (i) they were only derived from one population from the mountains of western Crete and should be replicated to other mountain ranges on Crete; (ii) the absence of reaction of Z. abelicea towards current climate changes could come from the larger amounts of annual precipitation that fall in the Cretan mountains (N1500 mm/yr) as opposed to the lowlands (b 300 mm/yr) (NOA, 2016;Rackham and Moody, 1996;Vrochidou and Tsanis, 2012); (iii) the cessation of the exploitation of Z. abelicea trees for wood and fodder in the mountains of Crete since the 1960s and the co-occurring climate change may influence and counteract the climatic signal contained in the tree-rings; (iv) although tree growth does not seem to be influenced by changing climatic conditions, the increased drought conditions may affect negatively forest regeneration by lowering seed germination rates and seedling or sapling survival.…”

Section: Stability Of Climatic Sensitivity Through Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Imprisoned in the Cretan mountains: How relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) trees cope with Mediterranean climate

Fazan

Guillet

Corona

et al. 2017

Science of The Total Environment

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• We established the first ever centennial chronology for a broadleaved tree on Crete.• Zelkova abelicea is most sensitive to precipitation and drought in May-June.• No growth change can be related to the increase in dry conditions of the past decades.• Z. abelicea has a high capacity to withstand changing environmental conditions.We investigate the sensitivity of the relict, endemic Cretan tree species Zelkova abelicea (Lam.) Boiss. (Ulmaceae) to several climate variables (temperature, precipitation and drought). For this purpose, we establish the first centennial tree-ring chronology for the species, and the first ever tree-ring chronology for a broadleaved species on Crete. We demonstrate the strong sensitivity of Z. abelicea towards precipitation and drought in late spring to early summer and the absence of a significant response to abundant precipitation occurring during winter or early spring. Whereas the late spring sensitivity is strong and consistent through time, the species seems to be experiencing a loss of signal towards early summer conditions since the 1970s, interpreted as an earlier cessation of cambial activity due to the increase in summer drought conditions on Crete. However, despite a reduced vegetative period, no significant decrease in radial growth of Z. abelicea was observed in the tree-ring series for the last decades, thus highlighting the capacity of Z. abelicea to withstand changing environmental conditions.

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Assessing precipitation distribution impacts on droughts on the island of Crete

Cited by 25 publications

References 32 publications

Characterization of seasonal droughts in Balochistan Province, Pakistan

Characterization of seasonal droughts in Balochistan Province, Pakistan

Sensitivity of the WRF model to the lower boundary in an extreme precipitation event – Madeira island case study

Imprisoned in the Cretan mountains: How relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) trees cope with Mediterranean climate

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