Measuring compound flood potential from river discharge and storm surge extremes at the global scale

Couasnon, Anaïs; Eilander, Dirk; Muis, Sanne; Veldkamp, Ted I. E.; Haigh, Ivan D.; Wahl, Thomas; Winsemius, Hessel C.; Ward, Philip J.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-489-2020

Articles | Volume 20, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-489-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Global- and continental-scale risk assessment for natural...

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-489-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 2

Research article

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21 Feb 2020

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 21 Feb 2020

Measuring compound flood potential from river discharge and storm surge extremes at the global scale

Anaïs Couasnon, Dirk Eilander, Sanne Muis, Ted I. E. Veldkamp, Ivan D. Haigh, Thomas Wahl, Hessel C. Winsemius, and Philip J. Ward

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-489-2020-supplement

Data sets

Paired time series of daily discharge and storm surge D. Eilander https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3552820

Daily maxima of storm surge from the Global Tide and Surge Reanalysis (GTSR) dataset S. Muis, J. C. J. H. Aerts, M. Verlaan, P. J. Ward, and H. C. Winsemius https://doi.org/10.4121/uuid:17769b8a-33cd-455c-8bbd-b65ab504f07e

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Short summary

When a high river discharge coincides with a high storm surge level, this can exarcebate flood level, depth, and duration, resulting in a so-called compound flood event. These events are not currently included in global flood models. In this research, we analyse the timing and correlation between modelled discharge and storm surge level time series in deltas and estuaries. Our results provide a first indication of regions along the global coastline with a high compound flooding potential.