Management of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 19848

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Messina, Contrada Di Dio, 98158 Sant'Agata, Messina, Italy
Interests: hydraulic modelling; flood risk management and flood defense design; flood damage and impact assessment; critical infrastructure; flash flooding; urban inundation; flood early warning; hydrological extremes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Applied Physics, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Martí Franqués 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: hydrometeorological hazards; climate change; climate change impact on natural hazards; risk awareness

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural hazards have caused significant damages to natural and manmade environments during the last few decades. Hydro-meteorological hazards such as severe storms, floods, and droughts are the most destructive weather- and water-related hazards and are mainly responsible for the loss of human lives, infrastructure damages, and economic losses. It is most probable that the frequency and severity of hydro-meteorological events will increase due to global climate change and variability. It is necessary to develop advanced models and methods for analysis, simulation, forecasting and early warning systems, and hazard prevention and proactive planning, but also for the assessment, management, and mitigation of disaster risks caused by extreme hydro-meteorological events.

This Special Issue is designed to cover all the above themes by including papers presenting innovate results on the following topics:

  • Storms;
  • Extreme rainfall, floods and flash floods;
  • Droughts;
  • Climate change impacts on hydro-meteorological hazards;
  • Societal impacts, risk management, responses, and education.

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Loukas
Prof. Dr. Giuseppe T. Aronica
Prof. Dr. María Carmen Llasat
Guest Editors

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. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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

  • extreme weather events
  • storms
  • droughts
  • floods
  • forecasting
  • planning
  • hazard management

Published Papers (6 papers)

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

Research

17 pages, 4154 KiB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Meteorological and Hydrological Droughts and Their Propagations
by Adnan Abbas, Muhammad Waseem, Waheed Ullah, Chengyi Zhao and Jianting Zhu
Water 2021, 13(16), 2237; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13162237 - 17 Aug 2021
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 2569
Abstract
The quantitative description of relationships and propagation between different forms of drought at multiple spatiotemporal scales in various geographical locations is informative for early drought warning systems. This study intends to evaluate the historical hydrometeorological drought from 1984–2015 in the Soan River Basin, [...] Read more.
The quantitative description of relationships and propagation between different forms of drought at multiple spatiotemporal scales in various geographical locations is informative for early drought warning systems. This study intends to evaluate the historical hydrometeorological drought from 1984–2015 in the Soan River Basin, which is a critical water source for the Pothwar region of Pakistan. The reconnaissance drought index (RDI) and standardized runoff index (SRI) are used to characterize meteorological and hydrological droughts, respectively. The spatiotemporal variations of the RDI and SRI demonstrated that 2000 and 2010 were extremely dry and wet years, respectively. The results further reveal that the frequency of hydrometeorological drought events was higher in a shorter time scale (3 and 6 months), while durations featured longer timescales (9 and 12 months). The RDI and SRI time series showed a significant decreasing trend in terms of the Mann–Kendal and Sen slope estimator (SSE) results. Cross-correlation analysis for RDI and SRI with a time lag acknowledged the existence of a sequence between the RDI and SRI and a positive relationship between the two indices. The findings of this study could be helpful for better understanding drought variability and water resource management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards)
Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 4062 KiB  
Article
Identifying Storm Hotspots and the Most Unsettled Areas in Barcelona by Analysing Significant Rainfall Episodes from 2013 to 2018
by Laura Esbrí, Tomeu Rigo, María Carmen Llasat and Blanca Aznar
Water 2021, 13(13), 1730; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13131730 - 22 Jun 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2409
Abstract
Urban floods repeatedly threaten Barcelona, damaging the city infrastructure and endangering the safety of the population. The urban planning of the city, the socioeconomic distribution, its topography, and the characteristics of precipitation systems translate into these flood events having a heterogeneous effect across [...] Read more.
Urban floods repeatedly threaten Barcelona, damaging the city infrastructure and endangering the safety of the population. The urban planning of the city, the socioeconomic distribution, its topography, and the characteristics of precipitation systems translate into these flood events having a heterogeneous effect across the city. It means that the coping capacity has a strong dependence on local factors that must be considered when management plans are developed by the municipality. This work aims to contribute to the better knowledge of precipitation structures associated with heavy rainfall events and floods in Barcelona based on radar data and an urban rain gauge network. Radar data have been provided by the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC), while precipitation data, impact data, and early warnings, have been provided by Barcelona Cicle de l’Aigua S.A. (BCASA), for the period 2013–2018. A new radar-based methodology has been developed to identify convective rainfall structures from radar reflectivity volumes (CAPPI and TOP products) to make the analysis easier. The high computing speed of the procedure allows efficient analysis of a large set of convective cells without scarifying temporal resolution of radar data. Both rainfall fields (radar and rain gauge, respectively) have been compared. Then through the identified rainfall convective structures, thunderstorm hotspots have been identified. Considering an alert indicator from BCASA and the reported incidents, episodes with the highest impact have been analysed in depth. Results show 207 significant rainfall episodes in the ROI for the six years, which are mainly concentrated between September and November. The fact that significant episodes are usually produced by highly convective rain corroborates the advantage of using radar images as a tool to detect any maxima even when no rain gauge is there. In 64 of the episodes, the level of pre-alert was achieved with a maximum frequency between August and September. The proposed algorithm shows more than 8000 centroids of convective cells from 189 cases. Whilst maximum surface reflectivity over 45 dBZ is more prone to occur near the coastline, the centroids of storm cells tend to concentrate more inland. The final objective is to improve the actions taken by the organisation responsible for managing urban floods, which have seen Barcelona recognised as a model city for flood resilience by the United Nations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards)
Show Figures

Figure 1

26 pages, 45029 KiB  
Article
A Flood Inundation Modeling Approach for Urban and Rural Areas in Lake and Large-Scale River Basins
by George Papaioannou, Lampros Vasiliades, Athanasios Loukas, Angelos Alamanos, Andreas Efstratiadis, Antonios Koukouvinos, Ioannis Tsoukalas and Panagiotis Kossieris
Water 2021, 13(9), 1264; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091264 - 30 Apr 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3551
Abstract
Fluvial floods are one of the primary natural hazards to our society, and the associated flood risk should always be evaluated for present and future conditions. The European Union’s (EU) Floods Directive highlights the importance of flood mapping as a key stage for [...] Read more.
Fluvial floods are one of the primary natural hazards to our society, and the associated flood risk should always be evaluated for present and future conditions. The European Union’s (EU) Floods Directive highlights the importance of flood mapping as a key stage for detecting vulnerable areas, assessing floods’ impacts, and identifying damages and compensation plans. The implementation of the EU Flood Directive in Greece is challenging because of its geophysical and climatic variability and diverse hydrologic and hydraulic conditions. This study addressed this challenge by modeling of design rainfall at the sub-watershed level and subsequent estimation of flood design hydrographs using the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Unit Hydrograph Procedure. The HEC-RAS 2D model was used for flood routing, estimation of flood attributes (i.e., water depths and flow velocities), and mapping of inundated areas. The modeling approach was applied at two complex and ungauged representative basins: The Lake Pamvotida basin located in the Epirus Region of the wet Western Greece, and the Pinios River basin located in the Thessaly Region of the drier Central Greece, a basin with a complex dendritic hydrographic system, expanding to more than 1188 river-km. The proposed modeling approach aimed at better estimation and mapping of flood inundation areas including relative uncertainties and providing guidance to professionals and academics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

26 pages, 14181 KiB  
Article
Extreme Floods in the Eastern Part of Europe: Large-Scale Drivers and Associated Impacts
by Monica Ionita and Viorica Nagavciuc
Water 2021, 13(8), 1122; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13081122 - 19 Apr 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4208
Abstract
The role of the large-scale atmospheric circulation in producing heavy rainfall events and floods in the eastern part of Europe, with a special focus on the Siret and Prut catchment areas (Romania), is analyzed in this study. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the [...] Read more.
The role of the large-scale atmospheric circulation in producing heavy rainfall events and floods in the eastern part of Europe, with a special focus on the Siret and Prut catchment areas (Romania), is analyzed in this study. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the socio-economic impacts of the most extreme flood events (e.g., July 2008, June–July 2010, and June 2020) is given. Analysis of the largest flood events indicates that the flood peaks have been preceded up to 6 days in advance by intrusions of high Potential Vorticity (PV) anomalies toward the southeastern part of Europe, persistent cut-off lows over the analyzed region, and increased water vapor transport over the catchment areas of Siret and Prut Rivers. The vertically integrated water vapor transport prior to the flood peak exceeds 300 kg m−1 s−1, leading to heavy rainfall events. We also show that the implementation of the Flood Management Plan in Romania had positive results during the 2020 flood event compared with the other flood events, when the authorities took several precaution measurements that mitigated in a better way the socio-economic impact and risks of the flood event. The results presented in this study offer new insights regarding the importance of large-scale atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport as drivers of extreme flooding in the eastern part of Europe and could lead to a better flood forecast and flood risk management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards)
Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 10387 KiB  
Article
The Drought Variability Based on Continuous Days without Available Precipitation in Guizhou Province, Southwest China
by N.X. Qin, J.N. Wang, Y. Hong, Q.Q. Lu, J.L. Huang, M.H. Liu and L. Gao
Water 2021, 13(5), 660; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050660 - 28 Feb 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2426
Abstract
Detecting the characteristics and variability of droughts is of crucial importance. In this study, Guizhou Province in China is selected as the target area, and the dataset there covering daily precipitation and drought records from 1960 to 2016 is adopted. The spatial and [...] Read more.
Detecting the characteristics and variability of droughts is of crucial importance. In this study, Guizhou Province in China is selected as the target area, and the dataset there covering daily precipitation and drought records from 1960 to 2016 is adopted. The spatial and temporal differences in yearly and seasonal Dnp (the drought indicator of continuous days without available precipitation) values and longest Dnp as well as their trends are examined. Then the Dnp values and droughts are classified into different categories, and the relationships between Dnp and droughts are revealed. There was a steep increasing trend in yearly Dnp with a rate of 6 d/10a, and the Mann–Kendall (MK) value was estimated to be 5.05 in the past 56 years. The seasonal Dnp values showed significant increasing trends. Yearly and seasonal Dnp varied significantly in the space domain. There were slight increases in yearly and four seasonal longest Dnp values in the time domain. Although the increases in the spring and summer were not significant, heavy droughts tended to occur at this time. As to the Dnp values corresponding to different levels of droughts, there was only a decrease in mild drought, while there were significant increases in mild, moderate, and heavy droughts. The mild droughts increased significantly in summer, and the moderate droughts increased significantly in spring. Different levels of Dnp also varied in the spatial domain. The elevation effect is not obvious in Guizhou province. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5400 KiB  
Article
Identification of Seasonal Sub-Regions of the Drought in the North China Plain
by Yanqiang Cui, Bo Zhang, Hao Huang, Xiaodan Wang, Jianjun Zeng, Wenhui Jiao and Rongpeng Yao
Water 2020, 12(12), 3447; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12123447 - 08 Dec 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2037
Abstract
Regional climate variability assessment is of great significance in decision-making such as agriculture and water resources system management. The identification of sub-regions with similar drought variability can provide a basis for agricultural disaster reduction planning and water resource distribution. In this research, a [...] Read more.
Regional climate variability assessment is of great significance in decision-making such as agriculture and water resources system management. The identification of sub-regions with similar drought variability can provide a basis for agricultural disaster reduction planning and water resource distribution. In this research, a modified daily Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) was used to monitor the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of agricultural drought in the North China Plain from 1960 to 2017, which was studied by using the rotated empirical orthogonal functions (REOF). Through the seasonal REOF process, 7–9 seasonal drought sub-regions are confirmed by applying time series and the correlation relationship of SPEI original data. The strong correlation of these sub-regions indicates that the climate and weather conditions causing the drought are consistent and the drought conditions are independent for the regions that show no correlation. In general, the results of the seasonal trend analysis show that there has been no significant trend value in most areas since 1960. However, it is worth noting that some regions have the positive and negative temporal trends in different seasons. These results illustrate the importance of seasonal analysis, particularly for agro-ecosystems that depend on timely rainfall during different growing seasons. If this trend continues, seasonal drought will become more complex, then a more elaborate water management strategy will be needed to reduce its impact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop