Can climate data help to better predict floods?

Suzanne Hangx August 13, 2015 ERE matters, Words on Wednesday No Comments

Flood at Trans-en-Provence (Var - France).
Credit: Dimitri Defrance (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Many studies report that hydrologic regimes are modulated by large-scale modes of climate variability such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) or the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Climate-informed frequency analysis models have therefore been proposed to condition the distribution of hydrologic variables on climate indices. However, standard climate indices may be poor predictors in some regions. Instead of trying to describe climatic cycles using a single parameter, Renard and Lall developed a model using a range of parameters.

You can read the whole paper here: Renard, B., and U. Lall (2014), Regional frequency analysis conditioned on large-scale atmospheric or oceanic fields, Water Resour. Res., 50, 9536–9554, doi:10.1002/2014WR016277.

By Suzanne Hangx

Suzanne Hangx is a post-doctoral researcher at the High Pressure and Temperature Laboratory of Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Her research focusses on fluid-rock interactions and how they affect the mechanical properties of rocks. By breaking rocks on a (more or less) day-to-day basis, she aims to make a contribution to potential solutions of societally relevant earth scientific issues, such as subsurface CO2 storage or surface subsidence induced by hydrocarbon or groundwater pumping. Suzanne is currently the Subsurface Officer of the Energy, Resources and Environment (ERE) Division of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).

About

Welcome to the blog of the Energy, Resources and the Environment (ERE) Division of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The main goal of the division Energy, Resources & the Environment (ERE) is to be a leading forum on discussions regarding the provision of adequate and reliable supplies of affordable energy and other resources, in environmentally sustainable ways. The blog is run by Sian Loveless and Suzanne Hangx. Those wishing to contribute to the ERE blog can submit a post here.

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