Hydro-Meteorological Hazards, Risks, and Disasters

Paolo Paron

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9780123964700
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Meteorology & Climatology

Hydro-Meteorological Hazards, Risks, and Disasters provides an integrated look at major atmospheric disasters that have had and continue to have major implications for many of the world's people, such as floods and droughts.. This volume takes a geoscientific approach to the topic, while also covering current thinking about some directly relevant social scientific issues that can affect lives and property. Hydro-Meteorological Hazards, Risks, and Disasters also contains new insights about how climate change affects hazardous processes. For the first time, information on the many diverse topics relevant to professionals is aggregated into one volume.- Contains contributions from experts in the field selected by a world-renowned editorial board- Cutting-edge discussion of natural hazard topics that affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of humans worldwide- Numerous full-color tables, GIS maps, diagrams, illustrations, and photographs of hazardous processes in action

Section 1

Floods and Storms

Outline

Chapter 1. Flood Processes and Hazards

Chapter 2. Measuring and Mapping Flood Processes

Chapter 3. Palaeoflood Hydrology: Reconstructing Rare Events and Extreme Flood Discharges

Chapter 4. Global and Low-Cost Topographic Data to Support Flood Studies

Chapter 5. Vulnerability and Exposure in Developed and Developing Countries: Large-Scale Assessments

Chapter 6. Integrated Risk Assessment of Water-Related Disasters

Chapter 7. KULTURisk Methodology Application: Ubaye Valley (Barcelonnette, France)

Chapter 8. Floods and Storms Practical Exercises

Chapter 1

Flood Processes and Hazards

Alberto Viglione, and Magdalena Rogger Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

Abstract

Floods are classified into different types depending on where the water comes from and on their generating processes. Several types of floods are described in this chapter, including river floods, flash floods, dam-break floods, ice-jam floods, glacial-lake floods, urban floods, coastal floods, and hurricane-related floods. Examples of each flood type are provided and their dominant processes are discussed. Hydrological flood processes such as runoff generation and routing depend on the type of landscape, soils, geology, vegetation, and channel characteristics. They are driven and modulated by climate through precipitation and temperature. Also evapotranspiration and snow processes play a critical role determining, for example, before-event soil saturation. These processes vary widely around the world and, even at the same location, they vary between events. The chapter reviews methods for estimating the probability and magnitude of floods as a measure of the flood hazard. It is argued that understanding the flood processes for each of the flood types is a prerequisite for estimating the flood hazard reliably. This is particularly important if one expects the landscape or climate characteristics to change in the future.

Keywords

Black swan; Dominant processes; Flood frequency hydrology; Flood types

1.1. Introduction

People have settled close to water bodies (rivers, lakes, and the sea) since the beginning of time and this has been for understandable reasons. Living close to water bodies was economically advantageous. Water bodies have long been the easiest transport corridors and the most important communication routes. Flood plains along rivers and near lakes were also attractive because of the fertility of the land and the easy access to irrigation water. Accessibility to the sea meant accessibility to (at that time) unlimited food availability. For all these reasons, the link between people and water bodies has always been strong and is still today (Di Baldassarre et al., 2013). However, living close to water bodies also involves the risk of flooding. Floods are among the most devastating natural (and sometimes human-produced) threats on Earth (Ohl and Tapsell, 2000). Floods involve inundations, i.e., submerged land from overflowing rivers and lakes when water overtops or breaks levees, from the sea because of high tides, and/or develop in otherwise dry areas due to accumulation of heavy rainfall. The risk at which people are exposed depends on many factors: the magnitude of flood events, how frequently they occur, the susceptibility of the people and their properties to be adversely affected, and their preparedness in the emergency situations caused by floods. In more technical worlds, flood risk is the result of the interactions between the flood hazard (which combines the flood probability and magnitude) and the vulnerability of the people and their properties. In this chapter, we focus on the flood hazard, whereas vulnerability is covered in Chapter 1.5. Both hazard and vulnerability very much depend on the type of flood and the processes determining it. In Section 1.2, floods of different types are discussed: river floods, flash floods, dam-break floods, ice-jam floods, glacial-lake floods, urban floods, coastal floods, and hurricane-related floods. We illustrate their process mechanisms through real world examples. For instance, most flood types are driven and modulated by climate, through precipitation and temperature, and by the landscape, since runoff generation and routing depend on soils, geology, vegetation, channel characteristics, etc. Also evapotranspiration and snow processes play a critical role, e.g., by controlling before-event soil saturation. These processes vary widely around the world and, even at the same location, they vary between events. Flood processes determine the way floods develop, their magnitude, volume, and speed. In Section 1.3, we discuss how the reliability of flood hazard estimation may be increased by understanding the flood generating processes of the different flood types. Finally, in Section 1.4 we discuss how the flood hazard may change in the future and how we can deal with it.

1.2. Flood Types and Their Processes

1.2.1. River Floods

In June 2013 the Upper Danube Basin (i.e., the German–Austrian part of the basin) was struck by a major flood (Blöschl et al., 2013a). The city centre of Passau (at the confluence of the Danube, Inn, and Ilz) experienced flood levels that were similar to the highest recorded flood in 1501, which is considered the “millennium flood” in central Europe (see Figure 1.1). Extraordinary flood discharges were recorded along the Saalach and Tiroler Ache at the Austrian-Bavarian border. The flood discharge of the Danube at V...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Editorial Foreword
• Foreword
• Section 1. Floods and Storms
• Section 2. Wind, Heat Waves, and Droughts
• Index