Severe Weather Disasters

A special issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 9710

Special Issue Editor

Department of Regional and Physical Geography, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
Interests: climate change; natural risk; water resources use and planification; sustainable spatial planning; theory of geography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is causing an increase in the development of extreme atmospheric events with catastrophic effects in many regions of the world. Atmospheric circulation alterations cause the genesis of episodes on temperature, precipitation, and wind extraordinary range. This Special Issue deals with the effects of climate change on the formation of extreme atmospheric events, its recent evolution, its trends, and the forecast projections for the future. These are events that generate a significant socio-economic impact on various territories, highlighting the need to understand their present and future effects of the implementation of adaptation measures.

Prof. Dr. Jorge Olcina Canto
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Climate is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • severe events disasters
  • climate change
  • recent trends
  • impacts

Published Papers (4 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 8617 KiB  
Article
Peatland Fire Weather Conditions in Sumatra, Indonesia
by Hiroshi Hayasaka
Climate 2023, 11(5), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11050092 - 22 Apr 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2956
Abstract
This study was conducted to identify the fire weather conditions needed to assess future peatland fires under climate change. Recent peatland fires in Indonesia have resulted in globally significant environmental impacts. Nevertheless, fire weather in the peatlands has not been clarified. The objective [...] Read more.
This study was conducted to identify the fire weather conditions needed to assess future peatland fires under climate change. Recent peatland fires in Indonesia have resulted in globally significant environmental impacts. Nevertheless, fire weather in the peatlands has not been clarified. The objective of this study is to determine the fire weather needed to assess future peatland fires under climate change. We analyzed fire, rainfall, temperature, humidity, and wind in the fire-prone areas in Sumatra. Analysis results using 20 years of satellite hotspot data from 2003 showed that fires in Sumatra occur every other month except December and April when rainfall intensifies. Due to relatively low rainfall, peatland fires in North Sumatra occur not only from January to March (the main dry season), but also around June and August if short-term drought happens. These fire trends may suggest that the peatlands of Sumatra are mostly in a combustible state. Analysis results using diurnal weather data showed that active peatland fires tend to occur under high air temperatures (around above 34 °C), low relative humidity (lower than 50%), and high wind speeds (higher than 18 km h−1). We hope that this report will help improve future peat fire assessments and fire forecasting under rapid climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Severe Weather Disasters)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 6904 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Extreme Precipitation Events in the Mountainous Region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
by Maria del Carmen Sanz Lopez, Jorge Luiz Diaz Pinaya, Augusto José Pereira Filho, Fe-lipe Vemado and Fábio Augusto Gomes Vieira Reis
Climate 2023, 11(3), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11030073 - 20 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1758
Abstract
Extreme rainfall events cause diverse loss of life and economic losses. These disasters include flooding, landslides, and erosion. For these intense rainfall events, one can statistically estimate the time when a given rainfall volume will occur. Initially, this work estimated rainfall volumes for [...] Read more.
Extreme rainfall events cause diverse loss of life and economic losses. These disasters include flooding, landslides, and erosion. For these intense rainfall events, one can statistically estimate the time when a given rainfall volume will occur. Initially, this work estimated rainfall volumes for the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, and the frequency with which rainfall events occur. For this, we analyzed daily precipitation data using the ANOBES method and the Gumbel statistical distribution to estimate return times. Extreme prec’ipitation volumes of up to 240 mm per day were identified in some locations, with 100 years or more return periods. On 11 January 2011 precipitation volumes were high, but on 12 January they were extreme, similar to the 100-year return time data. The analysis method presented enables the determination of the return time of heavy rainfall, assisting in the prevention of its effects. Knowledge of the atmospheric configuration enables decision support. The atmospheric systems that combined to cause the event were local circulations (orographic and sea breeze) and large-scale systems (SACZ and frontal systems). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Severe Weather Disasters)
Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 16705 KiB  
Article
Application of Hydrological Modeling Related to the 2011 Disaster in the Mountainous Region of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
by Marcia Chen, Marcio Cataldi and Cristiane Nunes Francisco
Climate 2023, 11(3), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11030055 - 26 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1742
Abstract
Natural disasters have been responsible for thousands of deaths in recent decades that, added to the environmental, social and economic impacts, require the implementation of prevention strategies. The largest share of disasters is of hydrological origin. In this context, hydrological models are potential [...] Read more.
Natural disasters have been responsible for thousands of deaths in recent decades that, added to the environmental, social and economic impacts, require the implementation of prevention strategies. The largest share of disasters is of hydrological origin. In this context, hydrological models are potential alternatives for monitoring and preventing events of this nature. The objective of this study was to analyze the applicability of the semi-distributed model SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) and the concentrated model SMAP (soil moisture accounting procedure) in predicting the extreme flood event that occurred in Brazil in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro in 2011. The results showed that the mean relative error in calibration and validation was 12% and 53% for SMAP, and 18.46% and 88.73% for SWAT, respectively. The better performance of SMAP in validation integrated with its ease of data collection, simplicity of execution and semi-automatic calibration included in its routine, allows for the conclusion that this model proved to be more suitable for hydrological monitoring. In this study, for the first time, a model of SWAT’s complexity was applied to a watershed located in the mountainous region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, a region that, unfortunately, has accounted for thousands of deaths over the past decades associated with mass movements and floods. The SWAT model, besides being able to predict the level and flow of the main course of the river and its tributaries, also enables the calculation of sediment transport in extreme events. Looking from an operational point of view, the work clearly shows how poor hydro-meteorological monitoring, as is the case in this region, makes a good quality prediction for extreme events impossible. It was demonstrated that under these conditions, a simpler and concentrated modeling approach, such as the SMAP model, is able to obtain better results than SWAT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Severe Weather Disasters)
Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2232 KiB  
Article
Extreme Coastal Water Levels Evolution at Dakar (Senegal, West Africa)
by Cheikh Omar Tidjani Cissé, Rafael Almar, Jean Paul Marcel Youm, Serge Jolicoeur, Adelaide Taveneau, Boubou Aldiouma Sy, Issa Sakho, Bamol Ali Sow and Habib Dieng
Climate 2023, 11(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11010006 - 26 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2605
Abstract
Increasingly, it is reported that the coastline of the Dakar region is affected by coastal flooding due to extreme water levels during wave events. Here, we quantify the extreme coastal water levels as well as the different factors contributing to coastal flooding during [...] Read more.
Increasingly, it is reported that the coastline of the Dakar region is affected by coastal flooding due to extreme water levels during wave events. Here, we quantify the extreme coastal water levels as well as the different factors contributing to coastal flooding during the period 1994–2015. Severe water levels reach values of 1.78 m and increase by 8.4 mm/year. The time spent above this threshold has already increased by 1.7 over the study period and will increase by 2100 to 8 times with 0.4 m mean sea level rise and up to 20 times with 0.8 m in the IPCC low and high greenhouse gas emission scenarios, respectively. Tide is the main contributor to the extremes when combined with large wave runup, due to wave breaking which contributes to 38% of the increase in extreme events while sea level rises to 44%. Our results show that because of its prominent location, Dakar region is affected by waves coming from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres with contrasted evolutions: wave runup events increase faster (7 mm/year) during austral winter due to a maximum of the South Atlantic storm activity, and have a decreasing trend (−3 mm/year) during boreal winter (December, January, February) driven by the evolution of corresponding climate modes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Severe Weather Disasters)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop