Gaumé et al. (2009) A compilation of data on European flash floods

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrology
• Year: 2009
• Date: 2009-01-22
• Authors: Éric Gaumé, V. Bain, Pietro Bernardara, Olivier Newinger, Mihai Barbuc, Allen Bateman, Lotta Blaškovičová, Günter Blöschl, Marco Borga, Alexandru Dumitrescu, Ioannis Ν. Daliakopoulos, J. Colunga García, Anișoara Irimescu, Silvia Kohnová, Aristeidis Koutroulis, Lorenzo Marchi, Simona Mătreaţă, Vicente Medina, Emanuele Preciso, Daniel Sempere‐Torres, Gheorghe Stăncălie, Ján Szolgay, Ioannis K. Tsanis, David Velasco, Alberto Viglione
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.12.028

Research Groups

• Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées, Nantes, France
• CEREVE, ENPC, Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech, Université Paris Est, Champs-sur-Marne, France
• LNHE, EDF R&D, Chatou, France
• National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management, Romania
• UPC - GITS (Sediment Transport Research Group), Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
• Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
• Vienna University of Technology, Wien, Austria
• University of Padova, Padova, Italy
• National Meteorological Administration, Bucharest, Romania
• Slovak University of Technology Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
• Technical University of Crete, Laboratory of Water Resources Management and Coastal Engineering, Chania, Greece
• CNR IRPI, Padova, Italy
• Grup de Recerca Aplicada en Hydrometeorologia (GRAHI), Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Short Summary

This paper presents a comprehensive database of over 550 flash flood events across seven European hydrometeorological regions to address information gaps, assess peak discharge ranges for small watersheds, and describe the hazard's geography. Preliminary analysis reveals higher magnitude flash floods in Mediterranean countries and distinct regional seasonality.

Objective

• To compile an intensive database of flash flood events in Europe.
• To assess possible ranges for peak discharges on watersheds with area smaller than 500 square kilometers.
• To describe the geography of the flash flood hazard across Europe.
• To present the data compilation strategy, the content of the elaborated database, and some preliminary data analysis results.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Seven European hydrometeorological regions; watersheds with areas smaller than 500 square kilometers.
• Temporal Scale: Historical flash flood events, spanning at least from 1952 to the early 2000s.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: No specific hydrological models were used for analysis; the study focuses on data compilation and preliminary statistical analysis.
• Data sources: Intensive data compilation from various sources (e.g., historical records, national institutes) for over 550 documented flash flood events.

Main Results

• A database of over 550 documented flash flood events across seven European hydrometeorological regions was successfully compiled.
• The most extreme flash floods exhibit greater magnitude in Mediterranean countries compared to inner continental countries.
• Flash flood occurrence shows strong seasonality, indicating different climatic forcing mechanisms in each region.
• The compiled database serves as the first step towards an atlas of extreme flash floods in Europe.

Contributions

• Creation of the first comprehensive, intensive database of over 550 flash flood events for seven European hydrometeorological regions, addressing a significant gap in documented information for this poorly understood phenomenon.
• Provides preliminary insights into the spatial distribution and seasonality of extreme flash floods across Europe, particularly for small, ungauged watersheds (area < 500 square kilometers).
• Establishes a crucial foundation for future research, risk assessment, and the development of an atlas of extreme flash floods in Europe.

Funding

• Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Gaumé2009compilation,
  author = {Gaumé, Éric and Bain, V. and Bernardara, Pietro and Newinger, Olivier and Barbuc, Mihai and Bateman, Allen and Blaškovičová, Lotta and Blöschl, Günter and Borga, Marco and Dumitrescu, Alexandru and Daliakopoulos, Ioannis Ν. and García, J. Colunga and Irimescu, Anișoara and Kohnová, Silvia and Koutroulis, Aristeidis and Marchi, Lorenzo and Mătreaţă, Simona and Medina, Vicente and Preciso, Emanuele and Sempere‐Torres, Daniel and Stăncălie, Gheorghe and Szolgay, Ján and Tsanis, Ioannis K. and Velasco, David and Viglione, Alberto},
  title = {A compilation of data on European flash floods},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrology},
  year = {2009},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.12.028},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.12.028}
}