Amponsah et al. (2018) Integrated high-resolution dataset of high-intensity European and Mediterranean flash floods

Identification

• Journal: Earth system science data
• Year: 2018
• Date: 2018-10-05
• Authors: William Amponsah, Pierre-Alain Ayral, Brice Boudevillain, Christophe Bouvier, Isabelle Braud, Pascal Brunet, Guy Delrieu, Jean‐François Didon‐Lescot, Éric Gaumé, Laurent Lebouc, Lorenzo Marchi, Francesco Marra, Efrat Morin, Guillaume Nord, Olivier Payrastre, Davide Zoccatelli, Marco Borga
• DOI: 10.5194/essd-10-1783-2018

Research Groups

• Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Legnaro, Italy
• Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, College of Engineering, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
• ESPACE, UMR7300 CNRS, “Antenne Cevenole”, Université de Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, France
• LGEI, IMT Mines Ales, Univ Montpellier, Ales, France
• Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, Grenoble, France
• Hydrosciences, UMR5569 CNRS, IRD, Univ. Montpellier, Montpellier, France
• Irstea, UR RiverLy, Lyon-Villeurbanne Center, Villeurbanne, France
• IFSTTAR, GERS, EE, Bouguenais, France
• CNR IRPI, Padua, Italy
• Institute of Earth Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

Short Summary

This paper introduces the EuroMedeFF database, an integrated, high-resolution dataset of hydro-meteorological variables for 49 high-intensity flash flood events across Europe and the Mediterranean from 1991 to 2015. The dataset provides crucial benchmark data for understanding flash flood processes and evaluating hydrological models, particularly highlighting the importance of post-flood surveys for small, ungauged basins.

Objective

• To describe and make publicly available the EuroMedeFF dataset, a unique collection of integrated, high-resolution hydro-meteorological and geographical data for 49 high-intensity flash flood events in Europe and the Mediterranean region.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Covers diverse hydro-climatic regions across France, Israel, Italy, Romania, Germany, and Slovenia. Catchment areas range from 0.27 km² to 2586 km². Radar rainfall data are provided at 1 km or less grid size, and Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) at 5–90 m grid size.
• Temporal Scale: Data collected for flash flood events occurring from 1991 to 2015. Storm durations are up to 48 hours, with rainfall data typically at 60 minute or finer temporal resolution.

Methodology and Data

• Models used:
  • Various radar data correction and raingauge-adjustment procedures (e.g., for antenna pointing, ground echoes, beam blockage, attenuation, vertical reflectivity profile, wet radome attenuation, bias adjustment).
  • Hydraulic models for checking stream gauge rating curve uncertainties.
  • Indirect discharge estimation methods including slope area, slope conveyance (using Manning–Strickler equation), flow-through-culvert, and lateral super-elevation in bends.
• Data sources:
  • Rainfall: Corrected and raingauge-adjusted weather radar estimates, local raingauge observations.
  • Discharge: Stream gauge observations (flood hydrographs) and indirect peak discharge estimates derived from Intensive Post-Event Campaigns (IPEC) using post-flood surveys.
  • Topography: Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) of the impacted catchments.
  • Generic data: Event date, catchment name, country, and administrative region.

Main Results

• The EuroMedeFF database comprises 49 high-intensity flash flood events from 1991 to 2015, with 30 events in France, 7 in Israel, 7 in Italy, 3 in Romania, 1 in Germany, and 1 in Slovenia.
• The dataset includes 680 peak discharge data points, with 32% from stream gauges and 68% from IPEC surveys, covering basins from 0.27 km² to 2586 km².
• Flash floods in Mediterranean, Alpine, and Arid regions tend to impact larger basins compared to Inland Continental regions.
• Unit peak discharges exhibit a strong inverse dependence on watershed area, with an empirically derived power-law envelope curve.
• Mediterranean catchments show the highest multiplier in the unit peak discharge-area relationship, followed by Alpine-Mediterranean and Alpine basins, while Inland Continental, Arid-Mediterranean, and Arid basins show the lowest.
• Indirect peak discharge estimates from IPEC surveys are crucial for documenting flood responses in smaller, ungauged basins, where stream gauges often fail to capture extreme peaks.

Contributions

• Provides an unprecedented, integrated, and high-resolution observational dataset for high-intensity flash floods in Europe and the Mediterranean, addressing the challenge of poorly observed hydrological extremes.
• Offers benchmark data for identifying and analyzing hydro-meteorological causative processes, evaluating flash flood hydrological models, and improving forecast systems across diverse hydro-climatic settings.
• Enables investigations into the space-time distribution of causative rainfall, rainfall-runoff relationships, and the impact of rainfall variability on hydrological models.
• Highlights the critical role and value of post-flood surveys in documenting extreme flood responses, particularly in small, ungauged catchments, which are often undersampled by conventional networks.

Funding

• HyMeX programme
• Next-Data Project (Italian Ministry of University and Research and the National Research Council of Italy – CNR)
• Hydrometeorological Data Resources and Technologies for Effective Flash Flood Forecasting (HYDRATE) project (European Commission, Sixth Framework Programme, contract 037024)
• FloodScale project (French National Research Agency (ANR) under contract no. ANR 2011 BS56 027)
• MISTRALS/HyMeX programme
• OHM-CV observatory (Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers, section Surface et Interfaces Continentales and the Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble)
• Labex OSUG@2020 (Investissements d’avenir – ANR10 LABX56)
• SCHAPI
• EDF-DTG
• Meteo France
• E.M.S. (Mekorot company)
• Israel Meteorological Service
• Israel Hydrological Service
• Soil Erosion Research Station at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
• HyMeX database teams (ESPRI/IPSL and SEDOO/Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées)

Citation

@article{Amponsah2018Integrated,
  author = {Amponsah, William and Ayral, Pierre-Alain and Boudevillain, Brice and Bouvier, Christophe and Braud, Isabelle and Brunet, Pascal and Delrieu, Guy and Didon‐Lescot, Jean‐François and Gaumé, Éric and Lebouc, Laurent and Marchi, Lorenzo and Marra, Francesco and Morin, Efrat and Nord, Guillaume and Payrastre, Olivier and Zoccatelli, Davide and Borga, Marco},
  title = {Integrated high-resolution dataset of high-intensity European and Mediterranean flash floods},
  journal = {Earth system science data},
  year = {2018},
  doi = {10.5194/essd-10-1783-2018},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1783-2018}
}