Articles | Volume 23, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1233-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1233-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Brief communication: The potential use of low-cost acoustic sensors to detect rainfall for short-term urban flood warnings
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Herminia Torelló-Sentelles
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Grégoire Mariéthoz
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Lionel Benoit
Biostatistics and Spatial Processes (BioSP), INRAE, Avignon, France
João P. Leitão
Department of Urban Water Management, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
Francesco Marra
Department of Geosciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council (CNR-ISAC), Bologna, Italy
Related authors
Francesco Marra, Nadav Peleg, Elena Cristiano, Efthymios I. Nikolopoulos, Federica Remondi, and Paolo Tarolli
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2565–2570, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2565-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2565-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change is escalating the risks related to hydro-meteorological extremes. This preface introduces a special issue originating from a European Geosciences Union (EGU) session. It highlights the challenges posed by these extremes, ranging from hazard assessment to mitigation strategies, and covers both water excess events like floods, landslides, and coastal hazards and water deficit events such as droughts and fire weather. The collection aims to advance understanding, improve resilience, and inform policy-making.
Qi Zhuang, Marika Koukoula, Shuguang Liu, Zhengzheng Zhou, and Nadav Peleg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1002, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1002, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding how projected urbanization and climate change affect typhoons, which may cause the most destructive natural catastrophes, is crucial. Based on numerical simulations of five landfalling typhoons in Shanghai, China, our results highlight that warming sea surface temperatures significantly shift typhoon tracks with intensified structures (increased size, intensity, and affected time) on the big scale. At the meantime, urbanization further enhances local rainfall intensity.
Mosisa Tujuba Wakjira, Nadav Peleg, Johan Six, and Peter Molnar
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 863–886, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-863-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-863-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we implement a climate, water, and crop interaction model to evaluate current conditions and project future changes in rainwater availability and its yield potential, with the goal of informing adaptation policies and strategies in Ethiopia. Although climate change is likely to increase rainfall in Ethiopia, our findings suggest that water-scarce croplands in Ethiopia are expected to face reduced crop yields during the main growing season due to increases in temperature.
Tabea Cache, Milton Salvador Gomez, Tom Beucler, Jovan Blagojevic, João Paulo Leitao, and Nadav Peleg
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5443–5458, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5443-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5443-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a new deep-learning model that addresses the limitations of existing urban flood models in handling varied terrains and rainfall events. Our model subdivides a city into small patches and presents a novel approach to incorporate broader terrain information. It accurately predicts high-resolution flood maps across diverse rainfall events and cities (on minute and meter scales) that haven’t been seen by the model, which offers valuable insights for urban flood mitigation strategies.
Judith Eeckman, Brian De Grenus, Floreana Miesen, James Thornton, Philip Brunner, and Nadav Peleg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1832, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1832, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The fate of liquid water from melting snow in winter and spring is difficult to understand in the mountains. This work uses uncommon methods to accurately track the dynamics of snowmelt and infiltration at different depths in the ground and at different altitudes. The results show that melting snow quickly infiltrates into the upper layers of the soil but is also quickly transferred into the surface layer of the soil along the slopes towards the river.
Francesco Marra, Marika Koukoula, Antonio Canale, and Nadav Peleg
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 375–389, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-375-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-375-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new physical-based method for estimating extreme sub-hourly precipitation return levels (i.e., intensity–duration–frequency, IDF, curves), which are critical for the estimation of future floods. The proposed model, named TENAX, incorporates temperature as a covariate in a physically consistent manner. It has only a few parameters and can be easily set for any climate station given sub-hourly precipitation and temperature data are available.
Michael Schirmer, Adam Winstral, Tobias Jonas, Paolo Burlando, and Nadav Peleg
The Cryosphere, 16, 3469–3488, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3469-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3469-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Rain is highly variable in time at a given location so that there can be both wet and dry climate periods. In this study, we quantify the effects of this natural climate variability and other sources of uncertainty on changes in flooding events due to rain on snow (ROS) caused by climate change. For ROS events with a significant contribution of snowmelt to runoff, the change due to climate was too small to draw firm conclusions about whether there are more ROS events of this important type.
Tristan Jaouen, Lionel Benoit, Louis Héraut, and Eric Sauquet
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 3629–3671, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3629-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3629-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses a multi-model approach to assess future changes in river flow intermittency across France under climate change. Combining projections from the Explore2 project with historical flow observations, logistic regressions estimate the daily probability of flow intermittency (PFI) under RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 scenarios. Results suggest intensifying and prolonged dry spells throughout the 21st century, with southern France more affected, while uncertainty remains higher in northern regions.
Francesco Marra, Nadav Peleg, Elena Cristiano, Efthymios I. Nikolopoulos, Federica Remondi, and Paolo Tarolli
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2565–2570, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2565-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2565-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change is escalating the risks related to hydro-meteorological extremes. This preface introduces a special issue originating from a European Geosciences Union (EGU) session. It highlights the challenges posed by these extremes, ranging from hazard assessment to mitigation strategies, and covers both water excess events like floods, landslides, and coastal hazards and water deficit events such as droughts and fire weather. The collection aims to advance understanding, improve resilience, and inform policy-making.
Francesco Marra, Eleonora Dallan, Marco Borga, Roberto Greco, and Thom Bogaard
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3378, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3378, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS).
Short summary
Short summary
We highlight an important conceptual difference between the duration used in intensity-duration thresholds and the duration used in the intensity-duration-frequency curves that has been overlooked by the landslide literature so far.
Nathalia Correa-Sánchez, Xiaoli Guo Larsén, Giorgia Fosser, Eleonora Dallan, Marco Borga, and Francesco Marra
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-111, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-111, 2025
Preprint under review for WES
Short summary
Short summary
We examined the power spectra of wind speed in three convection-permitting models in central Europe and found these models have a better representation of wind variability characteristics than standard wind datasets like the New European Wind Atlas, due to different simulation approaches, providing more reliable extreme wind predictions.
Lionel Benoit, Matthew P. Lucas, Denis Allard, Keri M. Kodama, and Thomas W. Giambelluca
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2181, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2181, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
In mountainous regions the interactions between topography and prevailing winds generate orographic effects, which modulate rainfall occurrence and intensity depending on slope exposure, finally creating strong rainfall gradients. This study introduces a geostatistical model dedicated to rainfall mapping in mountainous areas, which therefore explicitly account for possible orographic effects.
Qi Zhuang, Marika Koukoula, Shuguang Liu, Zhengzheng Zhou, and Nadav Peleg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1002, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1002, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding how projected urbanization and climate change affect typhoons, which may cause the most destructive natural catastrophes, is crucial. Based on numerical simulations of five landfalling typhoons in Shanghai, China, our results highlight that warming sea surface temperatures significantly shift typhoon tracks with intensified structures (increased size, intensity, and affected time) on the big scale. At the meantime, urbanization further enhances local rainfall intensity.
Mosisa Tujuba Wakjira, Nadav Peleg, Johan Six, and Peter Molnar
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 863–886, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-863-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-863-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we implement a climate, water, and crop interaction model to evaluate current conditions and project future changes in rainwater availability and its yield potential, with the goal of informing adaptation policies and strategies in Ethiopia. Although climate change is likely to increase rainfall in Ethiopia, our findings suggest that water-scarce croplands in Ethiopia are expected to face reduced crop yields during the main growing season due to increases in temperature.
Tabea Cache, Milton Salvador Gomez, Tom Beucler, Jovan Blagojevic, João Paulo Leitao, and Nadav Peleg
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5443–5458, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5443-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5443-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a new deep-learning model that addresses the limitations of existing urban flood models in handling varied terrains and rainfall events. Our model subdivides a city into small patches and presents a novel approach to incorporate broader terrain information. It accurately predicts high-resolution flood maps across diverse rainfall events and cities (on minute and meter scales) that haven’t been seen by the model, which offers valuable insights for urban flood mitigation strategies.
Kevin Kenfack, Francesco Marra, Zéphirin Yepdo Djomou, Lucie Angennes Djiotang Tchotchou, Alain Tchio Tamoffo, and Derbetini Appolinaire Vondou
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 1457–1472, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1457-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1457-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The results of this study show that moisture advection induced by horizontal wind anomalies and vertical moisture advection induced by vertical velocity anomalies were crucial mechanisms behind the anomalous October 2019 exceptional rainfall increase over western central Africa. The information we derive can be used to support risk assessment and management in the region and to improve our resilience to ongoing climate change.
Judith Eeckman, Brian De Grenus, Floreana Miesen, James Thornton, Philip Brunner, and Nadav Peleg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1832, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1832, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The fate of liquid water from melting snow in winter and spring is difficult to understand in the mountains. This work uses uncommon methods to accurately track the dynamics of snowmelt and infiltration at different depths in the ground and at different altitudes. The results show that melting snow quickly infiltrates into the upper layers of the soil but is also quickly transferred into the surface layer of the soil along the slopes towards the river.
Fatemeh Zakeri, Gregoire Mariethoz, and Manuela Girotto
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1943, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1943, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study introduces a method for estimating High-Resolution Snow Water Equivalent (HR-SWE) using Low-Resolution Climate Data (LR-CD). By applying a data-driven approach, we utilize historical weather patterns from LR-CD to estimate HR-SWE maps. Our approach uses statistical relationships between LR-CD and HR-SWE data to provide HR-SWE estimates for dates when HR-SWE data is unavailable. This method improves water resource management and climate impact assessments in regions with limited data.
Talia Rosin, Francesco Marra, and Efrat Morin
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3549–3566, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3549-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3549-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Knowledge of extreme precipitation probability at various spatial–temporal scales is crucial. We estimate extreme precipitation return levels at multiple scales (10 min–24 h, 0.25–500 km2) in the eastern Mediterranean using radar data. We show our estimates are comparable to those derived from averaged daily rain gauges. We then explore multi-scale extreme precipitation across coastal, mountainous, and desert regions.
Rajani Kumar Pradhan, Yannis Markonis, Francesco Marra, Efthymios I. Nikolopoulos, Simon Michael Papalexiou, and Vincenzo Levizzani
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1626, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1626, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study compared global satellite and one reanalysis precipitation dataset to assess diurnal variability. We found that all datasets capture key diurnal precipitation patterns, with maximum precipitation in the afternoon over land and early morning over the ocean. However, there are differences in the exact timing and amount of precipitation. This suggests that it is better to use a combination of datasets for potential applications rather than relying on a single dataset.
Mathieu Vrac, Denis Allard, Grégoire Mariéthoz, Soulivanh Thao, and Lucas Schmutz
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 735–762, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-735-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-735-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We aim to combine multiple global climate models (GCMs) to enhance the robustness of future projections. We introduce a novel approach, called "α pooling", aggregating the cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) of the models into a CDF more aligned with historical data. The new CDFs allow us to perform bias adjustment of all the raw climate simulations at once. Experiments with European temperature and precipitation demonstrate the superiority of this approach over conventional techniques.
Moctar Dembélé, Mathieu Vrac, Natalie Ceperley, Sander J. Zwart, Josh Larsen, Simon J. Dadson, Grégoire Mariéthoz, and Bettina Schaefli
Proc. IAHS, 385, 121–127, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-385-121-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-385-121-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study assesses the impact of climate change on the timing, seasonality and magnitude of mean annual minimum (MAM) flows and annual maximum flows (AMF) in the Volta River basin (VRB). Several climate change projection data are use to simulate river flow under multiple greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Future projections show that AMF could increase with various magnitude but negligible shift in time across the VRB, while MAM could decrease with up to 14 days of delay in occurrence.
Fabio Oriani, Gregoire Mariethoz, and Manuel Chevalier
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 731–742, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-731-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-731-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Modern and fossil pollen data contain precious information for reconstructing the climate and environment of the past. However, these data are only achieved for single locations with no continuity in space. We present here a systematic atlas of 194 digital maps containing the spatial estimation of contemporary pollen presence over Europe. This dataset constitutes a free and ready-to-use tool to study climate, biodiversity, and environment in time and space.
Francesco Marra, Marika Koukoula, Antonio Canale, and Nadav Peleg
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 375–389, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-375-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-375-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new physical-based method for estimating extreme sub-hourly precipitation return levels (i.e., intensity–duration–frequency, IDF, curves), which are critical for the estimation of future floods. The proposed model, named TENAX, incorporates temperature as a covariate in a physically consistent manner. It has only a few parameters and can be easily set for any climate station given sub-hourly precipitation and temperature data are available.
Mathieu Gravey and Grégoire Mariethoz
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 5265–5279, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-5265-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-5265-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Multiple‐point geostatistics are widely used to simulate complex spatial structures based on a training image. The use of these methods relies on the possibility of finding optimal training images and parametrization of the simulation algorithms. Here, we propose finding an optimal set of parameters using only the training image as input. The main advantage of our approach is to remove the risk of overfitting an objective function.
Stefan Steger, Mateo Moreno, Alice Crespi, Peter James Zellner, Stefano Luigi Gariano, Maria Teresa Brunetti, Massimo Melillo, Silvia Peruccacci, Francesco Marra, Robin Kohrs, Jason Goetz, Volkmar Mair, and Massimiliano Pittore
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1483–1506, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1483-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1483-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present a novel data-driven modelling approach to determine season-specific critical precipitation conditions for landslide occurrence. It is shown that the amount of precipitation required to trigger a landslide in South Tyrol varies from season to season. In summer, a higher amount of preparatory precipitation is required to trigger a landslide, probably due to denser vegetation and higher temperatures. We derive dynamic thresholds that directly relate to hit rates and false-alarm rates.
Eleonora Dallan, Francesco Marra, Giorgia Fosser, Marco Marani, Giuseppe Formetta, Christoph Schär, and Marco Borga
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 1133–1149, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1133-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1133-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Convection-permitting climate models could represent future changes in extreme short-duration precipitation, which is critical for risk management. We use a non-asymptotic statistical method to estimate extremes from 10 years of simulations in an orographically complex area. Despite overall good agreement with rain gauges, the observed decrease of hourly extremes with elevation is not fully represented by the model. Climate model adjustment methods should consider the role of orography.
Shalev Siman-Tov and Francesco Marra
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1079–1093, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1079-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1079-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Debris flows represent a threat to infrastructure and the population. In arid areas, they are observed when heavy rainfall hits steep slopes with sediments. Here, we use digital surface models and radar rainfall data to detect and characterize the triggering and non-triggering rainfall conditions. We find that rainfall intensity alone is insufficient to explain the triggering. We suggest that antecedent rainfall could represent a critical factor for debris flow triggering in arid regions.
Michael Schirmer, Adam Winstral, Tobias Jonas, Paolo Burlando, and Nadav Peleg
The Cryosphere, 16, 3469–3488, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3469-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3469-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Rain is highly variable in time at a given location so that there can be both wet and dry climate periods. In this study, we quantify the effects of this natural climate variability and other sources of uncertainty on changes in flooding events due to rain on snow (ROS) caused by climate change. For ROS events with a significant contribution of snowmelt to runoff, the change due to climate was too small to draw firm conclusions about whether there are more ROS events of this important type.
Lionel Benoit, Lydie Sichoix, Alison D. Nugent, Matthew P. Lucas, and Thomas W. Giambelluca
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2113–2129, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2113-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2113-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a probabilistic model able to reproduce the spatial patterns of rainfall on tropical islands with complex topography. It sheds new light on rainfall variability at the island scale, and explores the links between rainfall patterns and atmospheric circulation. The proposed model has been tested on two islands of the tropical Pacific, and demonstrates good skills in simulating both site-specific and island-scale rain behavior.
Assaf Hochman, Francesco Marra, Gabriele Messori, Joaquim G. Pinto, Shira Raveh-Rubin, Yizhak Yosef, and Georgios Zittis
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 749–777, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-749-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-749-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Gaining a complete understanding of extreme weather, from its physical drivers to its impacts on society, is important in supporting future risk reduction and adaptation measures. Here, we provide a review of the available scientific literature, knowledge gaps and key open questions in the study of extreme weather events over the vulnerable eastern Mediterranean region.
Moctar Dembélé, Mathieu Vrac, Natalie Ceperley, Sander J. Zwart, Josh Larsen, Simon J. Dadson, Grégoire Mariéthoz, and Bettina Schaefli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1481–1506, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1481-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1481-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change impacts on water resources in the Volta River basin are investigated under various global warming scenarios. Results reveal contrasting changes in future hydrological processes and water availability, depending on greenhouse gas emission scenarios, with implications for floods and drought occurrence over the 21st century. These findings provide insights for the elaboration of regional adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change.
Francesco Marra, Moshe Armon, and Efrat Morin
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1439–1458, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1439-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1439-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new method for quantifying the probability of occurrence of extreme rainfall using radar data, and we use it to examine coastal and orographic effects on extremes. We identify three regimes, directly related to precipitation physical processes, which respond differently to these forcings. The methods and results are of interest for researchers and practitioners using radar for the analysis of extremes, risk managers, water resources managers, and climate change impact studies.
Yoav Ben Dor, Francesco Marra, Moshe Armon, Yehouda Enzel, Achim Brauer, Markus Julius Schwab, and Efrat Morin
Clim. Past, 17, 2653–2677, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2653-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2653-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Laminated sediments from the deepest part of the Dead Sea unravel the hydrological response of the eastern Mediterranean to past climate changes. This study demonstrates the importance of geological archives in complementing modern hydrological measurements that do not fully capture natural hydroclimatic variability, which is crucial to configure for understanding the impact of climate change on the hydrological cycle in subtropical regions.
Zhenjiao Jiang, Dirk Mallants, Lei Gao, Tim Munday, Gregoire Mariethoz, and Luk Peeters
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3421–3435, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3421-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3421-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Fast and reliable tools are required to extract hidden information from big geophysical and remote sensing data. A deep-learning model in 3D image construction from 2D image(s) is here developed for paleovalley mapping from globally available digital elevation data. The outstanding performance for 3D subsurface imaging gives confidence that this generic novel tool will make better use of existing geophysical and remote sensing data for improved management of limited earth resources.
Anthony Michelon, Lionel Benoit, Harsh Beria, Natalie Ceperley, and Bettina Schaefli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2301–2325, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2301-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2301-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Rainfall observation remains a challenge, particularly in mountain environments. Unlike most studies which are model based, this analysis of the rainfall–runoff response of a 13.4 km2 alpine catchment is purely data based and relies on measurements from a network of 12 low-cost rain gauges over 3 months. It assesses the importance of high-density rainfall observations in informing hydrological processes and helps in designing a permanent rain gauge network.
Yair Rinat, Francesco Marra, Moshe Armon, Asher Metzger, Yoav Levi, Pavel Khain, Elyakom Vadislavsky, Marcelo Rosensaft, and Efrat Morin
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 917–939, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-917-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-917-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Flash floods are among the most devastating and lethal natural hazards worldwide. The study of such events is important as flash floods are poorly understood and documented processes, especially in deserts. A small portion of the studied basin (1 %–20 %) experienced extreme rainfall intensities resulting in local flash floods of high magnitudes. Flash floods started and reached their peak within tens of minutes. Forecasts poorly predicted the flash floods mostly due to location inaccuracy.
Moctar Dembélé, Bettina Schaefli, Nick van de Giesen, and Grégoire Mariéthoz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5379–5406, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5379-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5379-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study evaluates 102 combinations of rainfall and temperature datasets from satellite and reanalysis sources as input to a fully distributed hydrological model. The model is recalibrated for each input dataset, and the outputs are evaluated with streamflow, evaporation, soil moisture and terrestrial water storage data. Results show that no single rainfall or temperature dataset consistently ranks first in reproducing the spatio-temporal variability of all hydrological processes.
Jason Bula, Marc-Henri Derron, and Gregoire Mariethoz
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 9, 385–396, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-385-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-385-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a method to acquire dense point clouds with a low-cost Velodyne Puck lidar system, without using expensive Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning or IMU. We mounted the lidar on a motor to continuously change the scan direction, leading to a significant increase in the point cloud density. The system was compared with a more expensive system based on IMU registration and a SLAM algorithm. The alignment between acquisitions with those two systems is within 2 m.
Cited articles
Ali, H., Peleg, N., and Fowler, H. J.: Global Scaling of Rainfall With Dewpoint Temperature Reveals Considerable Ocean-Land Difference, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2021GL093798, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL093798, 2021. a
Benoit, L., Allard, D., and Mariethoz, G.: Stochastic Rainfall Modeling at Sub-kilometer Scale, Water Resour. Res., 54, 4108–4130, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR022817, 2018. a, b, c
Bowler, N. E., Pierce, C. E., and Seed, A. W.: STEPS: A probabilistic precipitation forecasting scheme which merges an extrapolation nowcast with downscaled NWP, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 132, 2127–2155, https://doi.org/10.1256/qj.04.100, 2006. a
Cristiano, E., ten Veldhuis, M.-C., and van de Giesen, N.: Spatial and temporal variability of rainfall and their effects on hydrological response in urban areas – a review, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3859–3878, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3859-2017, 2017. a
Dunkerley, D.: Acquiring unbiased rainfall duration and intensity data from tipping-bucket rain gauges: A new approach using synchronised acoustic recordings, Atmos. Res., 244, 105055, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2020.105055, 2020. a
Dunkerley, D.: Acoustic methods in physical geography: Applications and future development, Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 47, 74–104, https://doi.org/10.1177/03091333221111480, 2022. a
Gray, J., Hage, K. D., and Mary, H. W.: An automatic sequential rainfall sampler, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 45, 1517–1519, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1686550, 1974. a
Huang, J., Fatichi, S., Mascaro, G., Manoli, G., and Peleg, N.: Intensification of sub-daily rainfall extremes in a low-rise urban area, Urban Climate, 42, 101124, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101124, 2022. a
Kampwerth, D. H. and Rasmussen, R. A.: Verification of Rainfall Estimates: An Analysis of Activation Patterns of ADSID and Acousid Seismic and Acoustic Intrusion Sensors to Determine Rainfall Rates, Technical report AWS-TR-74-253, 36 pp., Weather Wing (6TH), 1974. a
Kreibich, H., Bubeck, P., Kunz, M., Mahlke, H., Parolai, S., Khazai, B., Daniell, J., Lakes, T., and Schröter, K.: A review of multiple natural hazards and risks in Germany, Nat. Hazards, 74, 2279–2304, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1265-6, 2014. a
Ochoa-Rodriguez, S., Wang, L.-P., Gires, A., Pina, R. D., Reinoso-Rondinel, R., Bruni, G., Ichiba, A., Gaitan, S., Cristiano, E., van Assel, J., Kroll, S., Murla-Tuyls, D., Tisserand, B., Schertzer, D., Tchiguirinskaia, I., Onof, C., Willems, P., and ten Veldhuis, M.-C.: Impact of spatial and temporal resolution of rainfall inputs on urban hydrodynamic modelling outputs: A multi-catchment investigation, J. Hydrology, 531, 389–407, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.05.035, 2015. a
Paprotny, D., Sebastian, A., Morales-Nápoles, O., and Jonkman, S. N.: Trends in flood losses in Europe over the past 150 years, Nat. Commun., 9, 1985, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04253-1, 2018. a
Peleg, N. and Torelló-Sentelles, H.: Rainfall data monitored by acoustic sensors in Zurich and Milan during spring and summer 2022, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7559671, 2023. a
Peleg, N., Marra, F., Fatichi, S., Paschalis, A., Molnar, P., and Burlando, P.: Spatial variability of extreme rainfall at radar subpixel scale, J. Hydrol., 556, 922–933, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.05.033, 2018. a
Peleg, N., Ban, N., Gibson, M. J., Chen, A. S., Paschalis, A., Burlando, P., and Leitao, J. P.: Mapping storm spatial profiles for flood impact assessments, Adv. Water Resour., 166, 104258, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2022.104258, 2022. a
Richardson, D., Neal, R., Dankers, R., Mylne, K., Cowling, R., Clements, H., and Millard, J.: Linking weather patterns to regional extreme precipitation for highlighting potential flood events in medium- to long-range forecasts, Meteorol. Appl., 27, e1931, https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1931, 2020.
a
Rözer, V., Peche, A., Berkhahn, S., Feng, Y., Fuchs, L., Graf, T., Haberlandt, U., Kreibich, H., Sämann, R., Sester, M., Shehu, B., Wahl, J., and Neuweiler, I.: Impact-Based Forecasting for Pluvial Floods, Earth's Future, 9, 2020EF001851, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EF001851, 2021. a
Sideris, I. V., Foresti, L., Nerini, D., and Germann, U.: Real‐time radar–rain‐gauge merging using spatio‐temporal co‐kriging with external drift in the alpine terrain of Switzerland, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 140, 1097–1111, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2188, 2014. a
Sideris, I. V., Foresti, L., Nerini, D., and Germann, U.: NowPrecip: localized precipitation nowcasting in the complex terrain of Switzerland, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 146, 1768–1800, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3766, 2020. a
Stewart, I. D. and Oke, T. R.: Local Climate Zones for Urban Temperature Studies, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 93, 1879–1900, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00019.1, 2012. a
Trono, E., Guico, M., Libatique, N., Tangonan, G., Baluyot, D., Cordero, T., Geronimo, F., and Parrenas, A.: Rainfall monitoring using acoustic sensors, in: TENCON 2012 IEEE Region 10 Conference, Cebu, Philippines, 19–22 November 2012, IEEE, 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1109/TENCON.2012.6412284, 2012. a
Uijlenhoet, R., Overeem, A., and Leijnse, H.: Opportunistic remote sensing of rainfall using microwave links from cellular communication networks, WIREs Water, 5, e1289, https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1289, 2018. a
Westra, S., Fowler, H. J., Evans, J. P., Alexander, L. V., Berg, P., Johnson, F., Kendon, E. J., Lenderink, G., and Roberts, N. M.: Future changes to the intensity and frequency of short-duration extreme rainfall, Rev. Geophys., 52, 522–555, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014RG000464, 2014. a
WMO: Early warning systems must protect everyone within five years,
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/%E2%80%8Bearly-warning-systems-must-protect-everyone-within-five-years
(last access: 23 March 2023), 2022. a, b
Short summary
Floods in urban areas are one of the most common natural hazards. Due to climate change enhancing extreme rainfall and cities becoming larger and denser, the impacts of these events are expected to increase. A fast and reliable flood warning system should thus be implemented in flood-prone cities to warn the public of upcoming floods. The purpose of this brief communication is to discuss the potential implementation of low-cost acoustic rainfall sensors in short-term flood warning systems.
Floods in urban areas are one of the most common natural hazards. Due to climate change...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint