Understanding Hydrological Extremes And Their Impact In A Changing Climate Observations Modeling And Attribution

This book focuses on climate change and hydrological extremes, i.e. droughts and floods, which are globally important natural hazards with associated costly impacts on society and the environment. Floods and droughts result from the superposition of different processes at various space and time scales: physical processes in the atmosphere, catchments, the river systems, and anthropogenic activities. However, the characteristics of hydrological extremes have been altered due to climate change and variability, such that approaches for their detection, attribution, and the frequency of occurrence need to be revisited as they are no longer stationary processes. For more accurate estimation of hydrological extremes under nonstationary and uncertain conditions, there is a need for holistic assessments. Time–frequency analysis, hydrological modeling, physical-cause analysis, multivariate statistical analysis, and uncertainty analysis are powerful tools for detecting, attributing, and making frequency analysis of nonstationary hydrological extremes in a changing climate. Both nonstationarity and uncertainty of frequency analysis of extreme hydrological events should be integrated to reveal the possible operational alternatives to the assumption of stationarity in hydrological extremes frequency analysis. In Focus – a book series that showcases the latest accomplishments in water research. Each book focuses on a specialist area with papers from top experts in the field. It aims to be a vehicle for in-depth understanding and inspire further conversations in the sector.

Climate Impacts on Extreme Weather: Current to Future Changes on a Local to Global Scale presents fundamentals and advances in the science of weather and climate extremes, building on the existing knowledge by using regional and global case studies. The book provides an analysis of historical and future changes, physical processes, measurements, space-time variability, socioeconomic impact, and risk management. It provides policy makers, researchers and students working in climate change with a thorough reference for understanding the diverse impacts of extreme weather and climate change on varying geographic scales. With contributions from experts across the globe, the book utilizes methods, case studies, modeling, and analysis to present valuable, up-to-date knowledge about the interaction of climate change, weather and the many implications of the changing environment. Offers comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of climate research related to extremes Includes both regional and global case studies for applying research to practice, providing a deeper understanding of the science Presents both observed and projected findings using primary research and models

Hydrological extremes have become a major concern because of their devastating consequences and their increased risk as a result of climate change and the growing concentration of people and infrastructure in high-risk zones. The analysis of hydrological extremes is challenging due to their rarity and small sample size, and the interconnections between different types of extremes and becomes further complicated by the untrustworthy representation of meso-scale processes involved in extreme events by coarse spatial and temporal scale models as well as biased or missing observations due to technical difficulties during extreme conditions. The complexity of analyzing hydrological extremes calls for robust statistical methods for the treatment of such events. This Special Issue is motivated by the need to apply and develop innovative stochastic and statistical approaches to analyze hydrological extremes under current and future climate conditions. The papers of this Special Issue focus on six topics associated with hydrological extremes: Historical changes in hydrological extremes; Projected changes in hydrological extremes; Downscaling of hydrological extremes; Early warning and forecasting systems for drought and flood; Interconnections of hydrological extremes; Applicability of satellite data for hydrological studies.

Measurement, analysis and modeling of extreme precipitation events linked to floods is vital in understanding changing climate impacts and variability. This book provides methods for assessment of the trends in these events and their impacts. It also provides a basis to develop procedures and guidelines for climate-adaptive hydrologic engineering. Academic researchers in the fields of hydrology, climate change, meteorology, environmental policy and risk assessment, and professionals and policy-makers working in hazard mitigation, water resources engineering and climate adaptation will find this an invaluable resource. This volume is the first in a collection of four books on flood disaster management theory and practice within the context of anthropogenic climate change. The others are: Floods in a Changing Climate: Hydrological Modeling by P. P. Mujumdar and D. Nagesh Kumar, Floods in a Changing Climate: Inundation Modeling by Giuliano Di Baldassarre and Floods in a Changing Climate: Risk Management by Slodoban Simonović.

Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales. SREX was approved and accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on 18 November 2011 in Kampala, Uganda.

Hydrological extremes have become a major concern because of their devastating consequences and their increased risk as a result of climate change and the growing concentration of people and infrastructure in high-risk zones. The analysis of hydrological extremes is challenging due to their rarity and small sample size, and the interconnections between different types of extremes and becomes further complicated by the untrustworthy representation of meso-scale processes involved in extreme events by coarse spatial and temporal scale models as well as biased or missing observations due to technical difficulties during extreme conditions. The complexity of analyzing hydrological extremes calls for robust statistical methods for the treatment of such events. This Special Issue is motivated by the need to apply and develop innovative stochastic and statistical approaches to analyze hydrological extremes under current and future climate conditions. The papers of this Special Issue focus on six topics associated with hydrological extremes: Historical changes in hydrological extremes; Projected changes in hydrological extremes; Downscaling of hydrological extremes; Early warning and forecasting systems for drought and flood; Interconnections of hydrological extremes; Applicability of satellite data for hydrological studies.

Global climate change is typically understood and modeled using global climate models (GCMs), but the outputs of these models in terms of hydrological variables are only available on coarse or large spatial and time scales, while finer spatial and temporal resolutions are needed to reliably assess the hydro-environmental impacts of climate change. To reliably obtain the required resolutions of hydrological variables, statistical downscaling is typically employed. Statistical Downscaling for Hydrological and Environmental Applications presents statistical downscaling techniques in a practical manner so that both students and practitioners can readily utilize them. Numerous methods are presented, and all are illustrated with practical examples. The book is written so that no prior background in statistics is needed, and it will be useful to graduate students, college faculty, and researchers in hydrology, hydroclimatology, agricultural and environmental sciences, and watershed management. It will also be of interest to environmental policymakers at the local, state, and national levels, as well as readers interested in climate change and its related hydrologic impacts. Features: Examines how to model hydrological events such as extreme rainfall, floods, and droughts at the local, watershed level. Explains how to properly correct for significant biases with the observational data normally found in current Global Climate Models (GCMs). Presents temporal downscaling from daily to hourly with a nonparametric approach. Discusses the myriad effects of climate change on hydrological processes.