Status: this discussion paper is a preprint. It has been under review for the journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS). The manuscript was not accepted for further review after discussion.
Spatiotemporal analysis of flash flooding events in mountainous area
of China during 1950–2015
Nan Wang1,2,Weiming Cheng1,2,3,4,Min Zhao1,4,5,Qiangyi Liu1,2,Jing Wang6,and Dongcheng Liu6Nan Wang et al.Nan Wang1,2,Weiming Cheng1,2,3,4,Min Zhao1,4,5,Qiangyi Liu1,2,Jing Wang6,and Dongcheng Liu6
1State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
3Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographic Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, 210023, China
4Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies, Nanjing, 210093, China
5School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
6Research Institute of Exploration and Development Dagang Oil Field, Tianjin, 300280, China
1State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
3Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographic Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, 210023, China
4Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies, Nanjing, 210093, China
5School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
6Research Institute of Exploration and Development Dagang Oil Field, Tianjin, 300280, China
Received: 07 May 2019 – Discussion started: 08 Jul 2019
Abstract. Flash flooding is one of the most destructive natural disasters that occur in mountainous areas. Understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of flash flooding across China is important for enabling better disaster estimation and prevention on the national scale. To bridge the gap in the research of the spatiotemporal characteristics of flash flooding events (FFEs), based on the longest time series of FFEs in China, this paper used Mann-Kendall (MK) test, wavelet analysis, monthly frequency and index of dispersion (D) to detect the temporal variation, temporal periodic and temporal clustering of FFEs in China. The results indicated that: (1) A marked rising in the number of FFEs in China was detected, with a growth rate of 23.62 per year since 1950; (2) On the large scale, the main periodicity characteristics was approximately 12–25 a, with three oscillation periods, and tended to be stable since 1980; On the small scale, the 2–8 a time scale was prominent, with two oscillation periods, and tended to be stable since 2006; (3) The intra-annual frequency distribution of FFEs can be divided into three types, right-skew, left-skew and symmetry; (4) The inter-annual clustering played the dominant role in FFEs occurrence across China, while the under-dispersions were only detected in six (5 %) watersheds. Precipitation anomalies and soil moisture were detected to have a close correlation with FFEs, however, the interplay of climatic variations and anthropogenic activities may impose greatly impacts on the occurrence and evolution of the flash flooding disasters on a large extent. This study provided a preliminary reference for revealing the driving factors of flash flooding disasters in the context of climate change.
Flash flooding is one of the most destructive natural disasters that occur in mountainous areas. Understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of flash flooding across China is important for enabling better disaster estimation and prevention on the national scale. To bridge the gap in the research of the spatiotemporal characteristics of flash flooding events (FFEs), this paper detected the temporal variation, temporal periodic and temporal clustering of FFEs in China.
Flash flooding is one of the most destructive natural disasters that occur in mountainous areas....