Flooding in eastern central Europe in May 2010 – reasons, evolution and climatological assessment

Bissolli, Peter; Friedrich, Karsten; Rapp, Jörg; Ziese, Markus

doi:10.1002/wea.759

Cited by 69 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In May 2010 several countries in eastern Europe -especially Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia -were affected by intense precipitation (Bissolli et al, 2011). Between 15 and 18 May 2010 heavy precipitation occurred in a small area at the border of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of Eulerian and Lagrangian moisture source diagnostics – the flood event in eastern Europe in May 2010

2014

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Abstract.Moisture convergence from different sources is an important prerequisite for a heavy-precipitation event. The contributions from different source regions can, however, hardly be quantified from observations, and their assessment based on model results is complex. Two conceptually different numerical methods are widely used for the quantification of moisture sources: Lagrangian approaches based on the analysis of humidity variations along backward trajectories and Eulerian methods based on the implementation of moisture tracers into a numerical model. In this study the moisture sources for a high-impact, heavy-precipitation event that affected eastern Europe in May 2010 are studied with both Eulerian and Lagrangian moisture source diagnostics. The precipitation event was connected to a cyclone that developed over northern Africa, moved over the Mediterranean towards eastern Europe and induced transport of moist air towards the Carpathian Mountains. Heavy precipitation and major flooding occurred in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia between 16 and 18 May 2010. The Lagrangian and Eulerian diagnostics consistently indicate a wide spatial and temporal range of moisture sources contributing to the event. The source with the largest share is local evapotranspiration from the European land surface, followed by moisture from the North Atlantic. Further contributions come from tropical western Africa (10-20 • N) and the Mediterranean Sea. Contrary to what could be expected, the Mediterranean contribution of about 10 % is relatively small. A detailed analysis of exemplary trajectories corroborates the general consistency of the two approaches, and underlines their complementarity. The Lagrangian method allows for mapping out moisture source regions with computational efficiency, whereas the more elaborate Eulerian model requires predefined moisture sources, but includes also processes such as precipitation, evaporation and turbulent mixing. However, in the Eulerian model, uncertainty concerning the relative importance of remote versus local moisture sources arises from different options to parameterise moisture tagging at the surface. Ultimately a more sophisticated parameterisation scheme will be required to reduce this uncertainty.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While major cities were spared from large damages due to recent dike building, rural areas suffered from considerable damages due to flooding. There were 15 fatalities in the aftermath of the flood (Bissolli et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Eulerian and Lagrangian moisture source diagnostics – the flood event in eastern Europe in May 2010

2014

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“…More than 2,000 mm of rain fell during a 24-hours period on 16th-17th May, and in many places in the Beskidy Mountains, the amount of precipitation between 16 and 19 May was 1.5-3 times more than monthly long-term mean for 1951-2000 (Bissolli et al, 2011;Wo niak, 2013). The situation was similar for GNP, where typically, a mean annual precipitation varies from 700 mm in the foothills to 1200 mm at the highest altitudes (Miczy ski, 2006).…”

Section: Extreme Weather Event: Intense Rainfall In May 2010mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As precipitation was also recorded at the beginning of May 2010, the water retention capacity of the soil was already very limited. Hence, these heavy rainfall events caused serious problems in many lowland areas due to flooding and increased sedimentation rates (Bissolli et al, 2011;Skolasi ska et al, 2014;Wierzbicki et al, 2013). In upland and mountain areas, the rainfall intensified soil erosion and initiated mass movements of soil, with consequent delivery of debris to streams and rivers and damage to infrastructure such as houses, roads and bridges.…”

Section: Extreme Weather Event: Intense Rainfall In May 2010mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decrease in the ES of erosion prevention was related to the fact that the water retention capacity of the soil (or rather the landscape in general) was exceeded (Bissolli et al, 2011), causing surface water runoff and an increase in soil erosion. In some cases, depending on the condition of trails (design, construction and maintenance) and after-the-event management activities, soil erosion remained a problem four years after the extreme event, regardless whether the trail was subsequently repaired artificially (scenario 2) or left for natural restoration (scenario 3) (Fig.…”

Section: Effects Of Intense Rainfall On Ecosystem Services Provisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of extreme natural events on the provision of ecosystem services in a mountain environment: The importance of trail design in delivering system resilience and ecosystem service co-benefits

Tomczyk

White

Ewertowski

2016

Journal of Environmental Management

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Spatial patterns and time distribution of central European extreme precipitation events between 1961 and 2013

Gvoždíková

Müller

Kašpar

2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Precipitation extremes always have an area‐related effect, emphasizing the need for a spatial assessment of extreme precipitation events that sometimes show similar behaviour in precipitation patterns due to recurring synoptic features. Our study investigates spatial patterns in the extreme precipitation events (EPEs) that occurred in central Europe between 1961 and 2013. As many as 53 maximum events were selected by the weather extremity index (WEI), reflecting simultaneously the spatial extent and the return periods of t day precipitation totals within an event‐adjusted study area. The extremity of the EPEs is further evaluated at two lower spatial levels, the main river basins (the Rhine, Weser/Ems, Elbe, Danube, and Oder) and 20 smaller subcatchments, which enables a more detailed study of the events’ spatial structure and similarity. A correlation analysis demonstrated that heavy precipitation occurs simultaneously not only in neighbouring subcatchments but also in rather distant regions with similar orientations of mountain ranges (e.g., in the Elbe‐a and Danube‐b subcatchments). In contrast, strong negative correlations appeared between several subcatchments in the Oder and Rhine River basins, which exclude heavy precipitation from occurring simultaneously in both basins. Similar spatial patterns are obvious among precipitation extremes; using the relative WEI values as the similarity measure, agglomerative hierarchical clustering detected two well‐separated groups of events, namely, W‐CE and E‐CE, affecting mainly the western and eastern parts of central Europe, respectively. A finer division of the EPEs distinguished five clusters of events with different spatio‐temporal characteristics. Only two clusters, ED (Elbe‐Danube) and O (Oder), were represented among the top 10 central European EPEs, which occurred exclusively from the end of May to the beginning of September. Three other clusters consisted of generally lower extreme events rather equally distributed throughout the year.

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Flooding in eastern central Europe in May 2010 – reasons, evolution and climatological assessment

Cited by 69 publications

References 4 publications

Comparison of Eulerian and Lagrangian moisture source diagnostics – the flood event in eastern Europe in May 2010

Comparison of Eulerian and Lagrangian moisture source diagnostics – the flood event in eastern Europe in May 2010

Effects of extreme natural events on the provision of ecosystem services in a mountain environment: The importance of trail design in delivering system resilience and ecosystem service co-benefits

Spatial patterns and time distribution of central European extreme precipitation events between 1961 and 2013

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