Articles | Volume 22, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3391-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3391-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
21 Jun 2018
Research article |
| 21 Jun 2018
| 21 Jun 2018
Evaluation of the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting model to reproduce a sub-daily extreme rainfall event in Beijing, China using different domain configurations and spin-up times
Qi Chu
College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City, Beijing, 100875, China
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TR, UK
Zongxue Xu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City, Beijing, 100875, China
Yiheng Chen
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TR, UK
Dawei Han
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TR, UK
Related authors
No articles found.
Cristina Prieto, Dhruvesh Patel, Dawei Han, Benjamin Dewals, Michaela Bray, and Daniela Molinari
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3381–3386, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3381-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-3381-2024, 2024
Hao Li, Baoying Shan, Liu Liu, Lei Wang, Akash Koppa, Feng Zhong, Dongfeng Li, Xuanxuan Wang, Wenfeng Liu, Xiuping Li, and Zongxue Xu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 6399–6412, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-6399-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-6399-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study examines changes in water yield by determining turning points in the direction of yield changes and highlights that regime shifts in historical water yield occurred in the Upper Brahmaputra River basin, both the climate and cryosphere affect the magnitude of water yield increases, climate determined the declining trends in water yield, and meltwater has the potential to alleviate the water shortage. A repository for all source files is made available.
Xichao Gao, Zhiyong Yang, Dawei Han, Kai Gao, and Qian Zhu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 6023–6039, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6023-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6023-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We proposed a theoretical framework and conducted a laboratory experiment to understand the relationship between wind and the rainfall–runoff process in urban high-rise building areas. The runoff coefficient (relating the amount of runoff to the amount of precipitation received) found in the theoretical framework was close to that found in the laboratory experiment.
Qiang Dai, Jingxuan Zhu, Shuliang Zhang, Shaonan Zhu, Dawei Han, and Guonian Lv
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5407–5422, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5407-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5407-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Rainfall is a driving force that accounts for a large proportion of soil loss around the world. Most previous studies used a fixed rainfall–energy relationship to estimate rainfall energy, ignoring the spatial and temporal changes of raindrop microphysical processes. This study proposes a novel method for large-scale and long-term rainfall energy and rainfall erosivity investigations based on rainfall microphysical parameterization schemes in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.
Xiaowan Liu, Zongxue Xu, Hong Yang, Xiuping Li, and Dingzhi Peng
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-71, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-71, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
The retreat of glaciers over the QTP is intensifying. To understand changes in glaciers, the two inventories (RGI 4.0 and GIC-Ⅱ) provide potential, but glacier volumes are not convincing. The study recalculated and compared glacier volumes in RGI 4.0 and GIC-Ⅱ for the QTP. The results indicate the slope-dependent algorithm performs better than area-volume-based equations. The northern QTP has a larger degree of fragmentation. An obvious offset of glacier volumes in different aspects is observed.
Xichao Gao, Zhiyong Yang, Dawei Han, Guoru Huang, and Qian Zhu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2020-367, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2020-367, 2020
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
Input errors and parameter errors are two main sources of uncertainties in hydrological model calibration. We developed a new Bayesian framework for automatic calibration of the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), simultaneously considering parameter and input uncertainties and verified the framework with a case study. The results shows that calibration considering both parameter and input uncertainties captures peak flow much better that only considering parameter uncertainty.
Lu Zhuo, Qiang Dai, Binru Zhao, and Dawei Han
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2577–2591, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2577-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2577-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soil moisture plays an important role in hydrological modelling. However, most existing in situ observation networks rarely provide sufficient coverage to capture soil moisture variations. Clearly, there is a need to develop a systematic approach, so that with the minimal number of sensors the soil moisture information could be captured accurately. In this study, a simple and low-data requirement method is proposed (WRF, PCA, CA), which can provide very efficient soil moisture estimations.
Cristina Prieto, Dhruvesh Patel, and Dawei Han
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 1045–1048, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-1045-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-1045-2020, 2020
Lu Zhuo, Qiang Dai, Dawei Han, Ningsheng Chen, and Binru Zhao
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 4199–4218, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4199-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4199-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study assesses the usability of WRF model-simulated soil moisture for landslide monitoring in northern Italy. In particular, three advanced land surface model schemes (Noah, Noah-MP, and CLM4) are used to provide multi-layer soil moisture data. The results have shown Noah-MP can provide the best landslide monitoring performance. It is also demonstrated that a single soil moisture sensor located in plain area has a high correlation with a significant proportion of the study area.
Xuehong Zhu, Qiang Dai, Dawei Han, Lu Zhuo, Shaonan Zhu, and Shuliang Zhang
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 3353–3372, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3353-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3353-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Urban flooding exposure is generally investigated with the assumption of stationary disasters and disaster-hit bodies during an event, and thus it cannot satisfy the increasingly elaborate modeling and management of urban floods. In this study, a comprehensive method was proposed to simulate dynamic exposure to urban flooding considering human mobility. Several scenarios, including diverse flooding types and various responses of residents to flooding, were considered.
Binru Zhao, Qiang Dai, Dawei Han, Huichao Dai, Jingqiao Mao, and Lu Zhuo
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-150, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2019-150, 2019
Revised manuscript not accepted
Xiaoxi Gao, Depeng Zuo, Zongxue Xu, Siyang Cai, and Han Xianming
Proc. IAHS, 379, 159–167, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-379-159-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-379-159-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The blue and green water resources in the upper Yellow River basin (UYRB) were evaluated by the SWAT model in this study. The results show that the average annual total amount of water resources in the UYRB was 140.5 billion m3, in which the blue water resources is 37.8 billion m3, and green water resources is 107.7 billion m3. The intra-annual variability, inter-annual variabilityand spatial distribution of the blue water and green water is relatively similar.
Xianming Han, Depeng Zuo, Zongxue Xu, Siyang Cai, and Xiaoxi Gao
Proc. IAHS, 379, 105–112, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-379-105-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-379-105-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
To further protect the ecology of the study area, remote sensing image technology is used to analyze the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of vegetation in the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin by splicing the remote sensing image of a time series (from February 2000 to December 2016). It can be found that vegetation coverage is better in low elevation areas,vegetation change shows a weak sustainability and the vegetation growth is more affected by the temperature than the precipitation.
Siyang Cai, Depeng Zuo, Zongxue Xu, Xianming Han, and Xiaoxi Gao
Proc. IAHS, 379, 73–82, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-379-73-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-379-73-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Drought is a natural and recurring feature of climate; occurring in virtually all climatic regimes. Wei River is of great importance in social and economic in China. The temporal and spatial variations of drought in the Wei River basin were investigated by calculating the drought indexes. Through analysis of the historical precipitation and temperature data, it was found that precipitation had a greater contribution to creating agricultural drought conditions than temperature.
Zongxue Xu, Dingzhi Peng, Wenchao Sun, Bo Pang, Depeng Zuo, Andreas Schumann, and Yangbo Chen
Proc. IAHS, 379, 463–464, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-379-463-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-379-463-2018, 2018
Dong-Ik Kim, Hyun-Han Kwon, and Dawei Han
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2018-36, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2018-36, 2018
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
This study introduces a new QM approach based on a composite distribution of a generalized Pareto distribution for the upper tail and a gamma distribution for the interior part of the distribution. The proposed composite distributions provide a significant reduction of the biases compared with that of the conventional method for the extremes. The proposed approach can provide a useful alternative for the bias correction of a regional-scale modeled data with a limited network of rain gauges.
Binru Zhao, Huichao Dai, Dawei Han, and Guiwen Rong
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-396, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-396, 2017
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
This study compared the hydrological model performance of different sub-annual calibration schemes, which take into account intra-annual variations of climate. Two methods recognizing climatic patterns were applied to partition sub-periods with hydroclimatic similarities. The effect of time scales on sub-annual calibration schemes was also studied. Results indicate when using sub-annual calibration schemes, the selection of partitioning method and time scale is important to model performances.
Lu Zhuo and Dawei Han
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3267–3285, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3267-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3267-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Reliable estimation of hydrological soil moisture state is of critical importance in operational hydrology to improve the flood prediction and hydrological cycle description. This paper attempts for the first time to build a soil moisture product directly applicable to hydrology using multiple data sources retrieved from remote sensing and land surface modelling. The result shows a significant improvement of the soil moisture state accuracy; the method can be easily applied in other catchments.
Jun Zhang, Dawei Han, Yang Song, and Qiang Dai
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-289, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-289, 2017
Preprint retracted
Short summary
Short summary
We explore unit hydrograph (UH) affected by geomorphology that could be used in ungauged catchments. Virtual catchments approach (VCA) is used instead of gauged catchments in runoff modelling. Catchment shape is newly introduced and the agreement of the results with the hydrological principles verifies the reliability of VCA. With the robust VCA, a large amount of catchments can be created with desirable features to explore a more comprehensive equation that can be used in ungauged catchments.
Wenchao Sun, Yuanyuan Wang, Guoqiang Wang, Xingqi Cui, Jingshan Yu, Depeng Zuo, and Zongxue Xu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 251–265, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-251-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-251-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The possibility of using a short period of streamflow data (less than one year) to calibrate a physically based distributed hydrological model is evaluated. Contrary to the common understanding of using data of several years, it is shown that only using data covering several months could calibrate the model effectively, which indicates that this approach is valuable for solving the calibration problem of such models in data-sparse basins.
Remko Nijzink, Christopher Hutton, Ilias Pechlivanidis, René Capell, Berit Arheimer, Jim Freer, Dawei Han, Thorsten Wagener, Kevin McGuire, Hubert Savenije, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 4775–4799, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-4775-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-4775-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The core component of many hydrological systems, the moisture storage capacity available to vegetation, is typically treated as a calibration parameter in hydrological models and often considered to remain constant in time. In this paper we test the potential of a recently introduced method to robustly estimate catchment-scale root-zone storage capacities exclusively based on climate data to reproduce the temporal evolution of root-zone storage under change (deforestation).
Kue Bum Kim, Hyun-Han Kwon, and Dawei Han
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 2019–2034, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2019-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2019-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
A primary advantage of using model ensembles for climate change impact studies is to represent the uncertainties associated with models through the ensemble spread. Currently, most of the conventional bias correction methods adjust all the ensemble members to one reference observation. As a result, the ensemble spread is degraded during bias correction. However the proposed method is able to correct the bias and conform to the ensemble spread so that the ensemble information can be better used.
Zongxue Xu and Gang Zhao
Proc. IAHS, 373, 7–12, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-373-7-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-373-7-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
China is undergoing rapid urbanization during the past decades. For example, the proportion of urban population in Beijing has increased from 57.6 % in 1980 to 86.3 % in 2013. Rapid urbanization has an adverse impact on the urban rainfall-runoff processes, which may result in the increase of urban flooding risk. In this study, the major purpose is to investigate the impact of land use/cover changes on hydrological processes and the flooding risk in Beijing.
Z. X. Xu and Q. Chu
Proc. IAHS, 369, 97–102, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-369-97-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-369-97-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Three hourly assimilated precipitation series with 0.1 deg. are used to analyze the features and trends of extreme precipitation in Beijing, China. The results show that: (1) the local climate and topography are two main factors influencing the spatial distributions of precipitation; (2) areas with greater precipitation threshold may have shorter precipitation days; (3) extreme precipitation amount (48% of precipitation) concentrated on urban areas and mountain area within only 5 to 7 days.
Z. X. Xu, X. J. Yang, D. P. Zuo, Q. Chu, and W. F. Liu
Proc. IAHS, 369, 121–127, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-369-121-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-369-121-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Spatiotemporal characteristics of extreme precipitation and temperature in Yunnan Province, China, were analyzed by using observed daily data at 28 meteorological stations from 1959-2013 in this study.Both maximum and minimum temperature showed significant increasing tendency while there was not obvious changes for precipitation.It was noted that extreme precipitation and temperature events occurred more frequently in central region where the risk of extreme climatic events was greater.
S. Ceola, B. Arheimer, E. Baratti, G. Blöschl, R. Capell, A. Castellarin, J. Freer, D. Han, M. Hrachowitz, Y. Hundecha, C. Hutton, G. Lindström, A. Montanari, R. Nijzink, J. Parajka, E. Toth, A. Viglione, and T. Wagener
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 2101–2117, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2101-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2101-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We present the outcomes of a collaborative hydrological experiment undertaken by five different international research groups in a virtual laboratory. Moving from the definition of accurate protocols, a rainfall-runoff model was independently applied by the research groups, which then engaged in a comparative discussion. The results revealed that sharing protocols and running the experiment within a controlled environment is fundamental for ensuring experiment repeatability and reproducibility.
J. Liu and D. Han
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 3639–3659, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-3639-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-3639-2013, 2013
J. Liu, M. Bray, and D. Han
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 3095–3110, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-3095-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-3095-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Hydrometeorology | Techniques and Approaches: Modelling approaches
Enhanced evaluation of hourly and daily extreme precipitation in Norway from convection-permitting models at regional and local scales
Deep-learning-based sub-seasonal precipitation and streamflow ensemble forecasting over the source region of the Yangtze River
High-resolution land surface modelling over Africa: the role of uncertain soil properties in combination with forcing temporal resolution
Investigating the global and regional response of drought to idealized deforestation using multiple global climate models
Distribution, trends, and drivers of flash droughts in the United Kingdom
Are dependencies of extreme rainfall on humidity more reliable in convection-permitting climate models?
Leveraging a radar-based disdrometer network to develop a probabilistic precipitation phase model in eastern Canada
Assessment of seasonal soil moisture forecasts over the Central Mediterranean
Do land models miss key soil hydrological processes controlling soil moisture memory?
Observation-driven model for calculating water-harvesting potential from advective fog in (semi-)arid coastal regions
Review of gridded climate products and their use in hydrological analyses reveals overlaps, gaps, and the need for a more objective approach to selecting model forcing datasets
Downscaling the probability of heavy rainfall over the Nordic countries
Modelling convective cell life cycles with a copula-based approach
Downscaling precipitation over High-mountain Asia using multi-fidelity Gaussian processes: improved estimates from ERA5
Mapping soil moisture across the UK: assimilating cosmic-ray neutron sensors, remotely sensed indices, rainfall radar and catchment water balance data in a Bayesian hierarchical model
Assessing rainfall radar errors with an inverse stochastic modelling framework
Towards a Robust Hydrologic Data Assimilation System for Hurricane-induced River Flow Forecasting
Enhanced hydrological modelling with the WRF-Hydro lake/reservoir module at Convection-Permitting scale: a case study of the Tana River basin in East Africa
Multi-objective calibration and evaluation of the ORCHIDEE land surface model over France at high resolution
Probabilistic precipitation downscaling for ungauged mountain sites: a pilot study for the Hindu Kush Karakoram Himalaya
Spatiotemporal responses of runoff to climate change in the southern Tibetan Plateau
Skilful probabilistic predictions of UK floods months ahead using machine learning models trained on multimodel ensemble climate forecasts
FROSTBYTE: a reproducible data-driven workflow for probabilistic seasonal streamflow forecasting in snow-fed river basins across North America
The role of land-atmosphere coupling in subseasonal surface air temperature prediction
On the combined use of rain gauges and GPM IMERG satellite rainfall products for hydrological modelling: impact assessment of the cellular-automata-based methodology in the Tanaro River basin in Italy
An increase in the spatial extent of European floods over the last 70 years
140-year daily ensemble streamflow reconstructions over 661 catchments in France
The agricultural expansion in South America's Dry Chaco: regional hydroclimate effects
Machine-learning-constrained projection of bivariate hydrological drought magnitudes and socioeconomic risks over China
Improving runoff simulation in the Western United States with Noah-MP and VIC models
Spatial variability in the seasonal precipitation lapse rates in complex topographical regions – application in France
Global catalog of soil moisture droughts over the past four decades
Assessing downscaling methods to simulate hydrologically relevant weather scenarios from a global atmospheric reanalysis: case study of the upper Rhône River (1902–2009)
Global total precipitable water variations and trends over the period 1958–2021
Assessing decadal- to centennial-scale nonstationary variability in meteorological drought trends
Identification of compound drought and heatwave events on a daily scale and across four seasons
Implementation of global soil databases in NOAH-MP model and the effects on simulated mean and extreme soil hydrothermal changes
Potential for historically unprecedented Australian droughts from natural variability and climate change
Flood risk assessment for Indian sub-continental river basins
Key ingredients in regional climate modelling for improving the representation of typhoon tracks and intensities
Divergent future drought projections in UK river flows and groundwater levels
Predicting extreme sub-hourly precipitation intensification based on temperature shifts
Hydroclimatic processes as the primary drivers of the Early Khvalynian transgression of the Caspian Sea: new developments
Accounting for hydroclimatic properties in flood frequency analysis procedures
Understanding the influence of “hot” models in climate impact studies: a hydrological perspective
A semi-parametric hourly space–time weather generator
A principal-component-based strategy for regionalisation of precipitation intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) statistics
Accounting for precipitation asymmetry in a multiplicative random cascade disaggregation model
Seasonal soil moisture and crop yield prediction with fifth-generation seasonal forecasting system (SEAS5) long-range meteorological forecasts in a land surface modelling approach
A genetic particle filter scheme for univariate snow cover assimilation into Noah-MP model across snow climates
Kun Xie, Lu Li, Hua Chen, Stephanie Mayer, Andreas Dobler, Chong-Yu Xu, and Ozan Mert Göktürk
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2133–2152, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2133-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2133-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We compared hourly and daily extreme precipitation across Norway from HARMONIE Climate models at convection-permitting 3 km (HCLIM3) and 12 km (HCLIM12) resolutions. HCLIM3 more accurately captures the extremes in most regions and seasons (except in summer). Its advantages are more pronounced for hourly extremes than for daily extremes. The results highlight the value of convection-permitting models in improving extreme-precipitation predictions and in helping the local society brace for extreme weather.
Ningpeng Dong, Haoran Hao, Mingxiang Yang, Jianhui Wei, Shiqin Xu, and Harald Kunstmann
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2023–2042, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2023-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2023-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrometeorological forecasting is crucial for managing water resources and mitigating extreme weather events, yet current long-term forecast products are often embedded with uncertainties. We develop a deep-learning-based modelling framework to improve 30 d rainfall and streamflow forecasts by combining advanced neural networks and physical models. With the flow forecast error reduced by up to 33 %, the framework has the potential to enhance water management and disaster prevention.
Bamidele Oloruntoba, Stefan Kollet, Carsten Montzka, Harry Vereecken, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1659–1683, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1659-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1659-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how soil and weather data affect land model simulations over Africa. By combining soil data processed in different ways with weather data of varying time intervals, we found that weather inputs had a greater impact on water processes than soil data type. However, the way soil data were processed became crucial when paired with high-frequency weather inputs, showing that detailed weather data can improve local and regional predictions of how water moves and interacts with the land.
Yan Li, Bo Huang, Chunping Tan, Xia Zhang, Francesco Cherubini, and Henning W. Rust
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1637–1658, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1637-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1637-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Deforestation has a significant impact on climate, yet its effects on drought remain less understood. This study investigates how deforestation affects drought across various climate zones and timescales. Findings indicate that deforestation leads to drier conditions in tropical regions and wetter conditions in arid areas, with minimal effects in temperate zones. Long-term drought is more affected than short-term drought, offering valuable insights into vegetation–climate interactions.
Iván Noguera, Jamie Hannaford, and Maliko Tanguy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1295–1317, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1295-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1295-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The study provides a detailed characterisation of flash drought in the UK for 1969–2021. The spatio-temporal distribution and trends of flash droughts are highly variable, with important regional and seasonal contrasts. In the UK, flash drought development responds primarily to precipitation variability, while the atmospheric evaporative demand plays a secondary role. We also found that the North Atlantic Oscillation is the main circulation pattern controlling flash drought development.
Geert Lenderink, Nikolina Ban, Erwan Brisson, Ségolène Berthou, Virginia Edith Cortés-Hernández, Elizabeth Kendon, Hayley J. Fowler, and Hylke de Vries
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1201–1220, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1201-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1201-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Future extreme rainfall events are influenced by changes in both absolute and relative humidity. The impact of increasing absolute humidity is reasonably well understood, but the role of relative humidity decreases over land remains largely unknown. Using hourly observations from France and the Netherlands, we find that lower relative humidity generally leads to more intense rainfall extremes. This relation is only captured well in recently developed convection-permitting climate models.
Alexis Bédard-Therrien, François Anctil, Julie M. Thériault, Olivier Chalifour, Fanny Payette, Alexandre Vidal, and Daniel F. Nadeau
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1135–1158, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1135-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1135-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Precipitation data from an automated observational network in eastern Canada showed a temperature interval where rain and snow could coexist. Random forest models were developed to classify the precipitation phase using meteorological data to evaluate operational applications. The models demonstrated significantly improved phase classification and reduced error compared to benchmark operational models. However, accurate prediction of mixed-phase precipitation remains challenging.
Lorenzo Silvestri, Miriam Saraceni, Bruno Brunone, Silvia Meniconi, Giulia Passadore, and Paolina Bongioannini Cerlini
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 925–946, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-925-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-925-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work demonstrates that seasonal forecasts of soil moisture are a valuable resource for groundwater management in the areas of the Central Mediterranean where longer memory timescales are found. In particular, they show significant correlation coefficients and forecast skill for the deepest soil moisture at 289 cm depth. Wet and dry events can be predicted 6 months in advance, and, in general, dry events are better captured than wet events.
Mohammad A. Farmani, Ali Behrangi, Aniket Gupta, Ahmad Tavakoly, Matthew Geheran, and Guo-Yue Niu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 547–566, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-547-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-547-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Soil moisture memory (SMM) shows how long soil stays moist after rain, impacting climate and ecosystems. Current models often overestimate SMM, causing inaccuracies in evaporation predictions. We enhanced a land model, Noah-MP, to include better water flow and ponding processes, and we tested it against satellite and field data. This improved model reduced overestimations and enhanced short-term predictions, helping create more accurate climate and weather forecasts.
Felipe Lobos-Roco, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, and Camilo del Río
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 109–125, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-109-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-109-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Water resources are fundamental for the social, economic, and natural development of (semi-)arid regions. Precipitation decreases due to climate change obligate us to find new water resources. Fog harvesting (FH) emerges as a complementary resource in regions where it is abundant but untapped. This research proposes a model to estimate FH potential in coastal (semi-)arid regions. This model could have broader applicability worldwide in regions where FH could be a viable water source.
Kyle R. Mankin, Sushant Mehan, Timothy R. Green, and David M. Barnard
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 85–108, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-85-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-85-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We assess 63 gridded ground (G), satellite (S), and reanalysis (R) climate datasets. Higher-density station data and less-hilly terrain improved climate data. In mountainous and humid regions, dataset types performed similarly; however, R outperformed G when underlying data had low station density. G outperformed S or R datasets, although better streamflow modeling did not always follow. Hydrologic analyses need datasets that better represent climate variable dependencies and complex topography.
Rasmus E. Benestad, Kajsa M. Parding, and Andreas Dobler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 45–65, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-45-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-45-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new method to calculate the chance of heavy downpour and the maximum rainfall expected over a 25-year period. It is designed to analyse global climate models' reproduction of past and future climates. For the Nordic countries, it projects a wetter climate in the future with increased intensity but not necessarily more wet days. The analysis also shows that rainfall intensity is sensitive to future greenhouse gas emissions, while the number of wet days appears to be less affected.
Chien-Yu Tseng, Li-Pen Wang, and Christian Onof
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1–25, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a new algorithm to model convective storms. We used advanced tracking methods to analyse 165 storm events in Birmingham (UK) and reconstruct storm cell life cycles. We found that cell properties like intensity and size are interrelated and vary over time. The new algorithm, based on vine copulas, accurately simulates these properties and their evolution. It also integrates an exponential shape function for realistic rainfall patterns, enhancing its hydrological applicability.
Kenza Tazi, Andrew Orr, Javier Hernandez-González, Scott Hosking, and Richard E. Turner
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4903–4925, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4903-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4903-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work aims to improve the understanding of precipitation patterns in High-mountain Asia, a crucial water source for around 1.9 billion people. Through a novel machine learning method, we generate high-resolution precipitation predictions, including the likelihoods of floods and droughts. Compared to state-of-the-art methods, our method is simpler to implement and more suitable for small datasets. The method also shows accuracy comparable to or better than existing benchmark datasets.
Peter E. Levy and the COSMOS-UK team
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4819–4836, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4819-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4819-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Having accurate up-to-date maps of soil moisture is important for many purposes. However, current modelled and remotely sensed maps are rather coarse and not very accurate. Here, we demonstrate a simple but accurate approach that is closely linked to direct measurements of soil moisture at a network sites across the UK, to the water balance (precipitation minus drainage and evaporation) measured at a large number of catchments (1212) and to remotely sensed satellite estimates.
Amy C. Green, Chris Kilsby, and András Bárdossy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4539–4558, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4539-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4539-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Weather radar is a crucial tool in rainfall estimation, but radar rainfall estimates are subject to many error sources, with the true rainfall field unknown. A flexible model for simulating errors relating to the radar rainfall estimation process is implemented, inverting standard processing methods. This flexible and efficient model performs well in generating realistic weather radar images visually for a large range of event types.
Peyman Abbaszadeh, Keyhan Gavahi, and Hamid Moradkhani
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-209, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-209, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
The Hybrid Ensemble and Variational Data Assimilation framework for Environmental System (HEAVEN) enhances flood predictions by refining hydrologic models through improved data integration and uncertainty management. Tested in three Southeastern U.S. watersheds during hurricanes, HEAVEN assimilates real-time USGS streamflow data, boosting forecast accuracy.
Ling Zhang, Lu Li, Zhongshi Zhang, Joël Arnault, Stefan Sobolowski, Anthony Musili Mwanthi, Pratik Kad, Mohammed Abdullahi Hassan, Tanja Portele, and Harald Kunstmann
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-278, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-278, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
To address challenges related to unreliable hydrological simulations, we present an enhanced hydrological simulation with a refined climate model and a more comprehensive hydrological model. The model with the two parts outperforms that without, especially in migrating bias in peak flow and dry-season flow. Our findings highlight the enhanced hydrological simulation capability with the refined climate and lake module contributing 24 % and 76 % improvement, respectively.
Peng Huang, Agnès Ducharne, Lucia Rinchiuso, Jan Polcher, Laure Baratgin, Vladislav Bastrikov, and Eric Sauquet
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4455–4476, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4455-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4455-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We conducted a high-resolution hydrological simulation from 1959 to 2020 across France. We used a simple trial-and-error calibration to reduce the biases of the simulated water budget compared to observations. The selected simulation satisfactorily reproduces water fluxes, including their spatial contrasts and temporal trends. This work offers a reliable historical overview of water resources and a robust configuration for climate change impact analysis at the nationwide scale of France.
Marc Girona-Mata, Andrew Orr, Martin Widmann, Daniel Bannister, Ghulam Hussain Dars, Scott Hosking, Jesse Norris, David Ocio, Tony Phillips, Jakob Steiner, and Richard E. Turner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2805, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2805, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a novel method for improving daily precipitation maps in mountain regions and pilot it across three basins in the Hindu Kush Karakoram Himalaya (HKH). The approach leverages climate model and weather station data, along with statistical / machine learning techniques. Our results show this approach outperforms traditional methods, especially in remote, ungauged areas, suggesting it could be used to improve precipitation maps across much of the HKH, as well as other mountain regions.
He Sun, Tandong Yao, Fengge Su, Wei Yang, and Deliang Chen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4361–4381, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4361-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4361-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our findings show that runoff in the Yarlung Zangbo (YZ) basin is primarily driven by rainfall, with the largest glacier runoff contribution in the downstream sub-basin. Annual runoff increased in the upper stream but decreased downstream due to varying precipitation patterns. It is expected to rise throughout the 21st century, mainly driven by increased rainfall.
Simon Moulds, Louise Slater, Louise Arnal, and Andrew Wood
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.31223/X5X405, https://doi.org/10.31223/X5X405, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Seasonal streamflow forecasts are an important component of flood risk management. Here, we train and test a machine learning model to predict the monthly maximum daily streamflow up to four months ahead. We train the model on precipitation and temperature forecasts to produce probabilistic hindcasts for 579 stations across the UK for the period 2004–2016. We show skilful results up to four months ahead in many locations, although in general the skill declines with increasing lead time.
Louise Arnal, Martyn P. Clark, Alain Pietroniro, Vincent Vionnet, David R. Casson, Paul H. Whitfield, Vincent Fortin, Andrew W. Wood, Wouter J. M. Knoben, Brandi W. Newton, and Colleen Walford
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4127–4155, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4127-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4127-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Forecasting river flow months in advance is crucial for water sectors and society. In North America, snowmelt is a key driver of flow. This study presents a statistical workflow using snow data to forecast flow months ahead in North American snow-fed rivers. Variations in the river flow predictability across the continent are evident, raising concerns about future predictability in a changing (snow) climate. The reproducible workflow hosted on GitHub supports collaborative and open science.
Yuna Lim, Andrea M. Molod, Randal D. Koster, and Joseph A. Santanello
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2312, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2312, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To better utilize a given set of predictions, identifying “forecasts of opportunity” has great value. It can help anticipate when prediction skill will be higher. This study reveals that when strong L-A coupling is detected 3–4 weeks into a forecast, the prediction skill for surface air temperature at this lead increases across the Midwest and northern Great Plains. Regions experiencing strong L-A coupling exhibit warm and dry anomalies, leading to improved predictions of abnormally warm events.
Annalina Lombardi, Barbara Tomassetti, Valentina Colaiuda, Ludovico Di Antonio, Paolo Tuccella, Mario Montopoli, Giovanni Ravazzani, Frank Silvio Marzano, Raffaele Lidori, and Giulia Panegrossi
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3777–3797, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3777-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3777-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The accurate estimation of precipitation and its spatial variability within a watershed is crucial for reliable discharge simulations. The study is the first detailed analysis of the potential usage of the cellular automata technique to merge different rainfall data inputs to hydrological models. This work shows an improvement in the performance of hydrological simulations when satellite and rain gauge data are merged.
Beijing Fang, Emanuele Bevacqua, Oldrich Rakovec, and Jakob Zscheischler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3755–3775, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3755-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3755-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We use grid-based runoff from a hydrological model to identify large spatiotemporally connected flood events in Europe, assess extent trends over the last 70 years, and attribute the trends to different drivers. Our findings reveal a general increase in flood extent, with regional variations driven by diverse factors. The study not only enables a thorough examination of flood events across multiple basins but also highlights the potential challenges arising from changing flood extents.
Alexandre Devers, Jean-Philippe Vidal, Claire Lauvernet, Olivier Vannier, and Laurie Caillouet
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3457–3474, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3457-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3457-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Daily streamflow series for 661 near-natural French catchments are reconstructed over 1871–2012 using two ensemble datasets: HydRE and HydREM. They include uncertainties coming from climate forcings, streamflow measurement, and hydrological model error (for HydrREM). Comparisons with other hydrological reconstructions and independent/dependent observations show the added value of the two reconstructions in terms of quality, uncertainty estimation, and representation of extremes.
María Agostina Bracalenti, Omar V. Müller, Miguel A. Lovino, and Ernesto Hugo Berbery
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3281–3303, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3281-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3281-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Gran Chaco is a large, dry forest in South America that has been heavily deforested, particularly in the dry Chaco subregion. This deforestation, mainly driven by the expansion of the agricultural frontier, has changed the land's characteristics, affecting the local and regional climate. The study reveals that deforestation has resulted in reduced precipitation, soil moisture, and runoff, and if intensive agriculture continues, it could make summers in this arid region even drier and hotter.
Rutong Liu, Jiabo Yin, Louise Slater, Shengyu Kang, Yuanhang Yang, Pan Liu, Jiali Guo, Xihui Gu, Xiang Zhang, and Aliaksandr Volchak
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3305–3326, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3305-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3305-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change accelerates the water cycle and alters the spatiotemporal distribution of hydrological variables, thus complicating the projection of future streamflow and hydrological droughts. We develop a cascade modeling chain to project future bivariate hydrological drought characteristics over China, using five bias-corrected global climate model outputs under three shared socioeconomic pathways, five hydrological models, and a deep-learning model.
Lu Su, Dennis P. Lettenmaier, Ming Pan, and Benjamin Bass
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3079–3097, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3079-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3079-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We fine-tuned the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) and Noah-MP models across 263 river basins in the Western US. We developed transfer relationships to similar basins and extended the fine-tuned parameters to ungauged basins. Both models performed best in humid areas, and the skills improved post-calibration. VIC outperforms Noah-MP in all but interior dry basins following regionalization. VIC simulates annual mean streamflow and high flow well, while Noah-MP performs better for low flows.
Valentin Dura, Guillaume Evin, Anne-Catherine Favre, and David Penot
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2579–2601, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2579-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2579-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The increase in precipitation as a function of elevation is poorly understood in areas with complex topography. In this article, the reproduction of these orographic gradients is assessed with several precipitation products. The best product is a simulation from a convection-permitting regional climate model. The corresponding seasonal gradients vary significantly in space, with higher values for the first topographical barriers exposed to the dominant air mass circulations.
Jan Řehoř, Rudolf Brázdil, Oldřich Rakovec, Martin Hanel, Milan Fischer, Rohini Kumar, Jan Balek, Markéta Poděbradská, Vojtěch Moravec, Luis Samaniego, and Miroslav Trnka
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1434, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1434, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a robust method for identification and classification of global land drought events (GLDEs) based on soil moisture. Two models were used to calculate soil moisture and delimit soil drought over global land from 1980–2022, which was clustered into 775/630 GLDEs. Using four spatiotemporal and three motion-related characteristics, we categorized GLDEs into seven severity and seven dynamic categories. The frequency of GLDEs has generally increased in recent decades.
Caroline Legrand, Benoît Hingray, Bruno Wilhelm, and Martin Ménégoz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2139–2166, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2139-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2139-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change is expected to increase flood hazard worldwide. The evolution is typically estimated from multi-model chains, where regional hydrological scenarios are simulated from weather scenarios derived from coarse-resolution atmospheric outputs of climate models. We show that two such chains are able to reproduce, from an atmospheric reanalysis, the 1902–2009 discharge variations and floods of the upper Rhône alpine river, provided that the weather scenarios are bias-corrected.
Nenghan Wan, Xiaomao Lin, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Xubin Zeng, and Amanda M. Nelson
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2123–2137, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2123-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2123-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Global warming occurs at a rate of 0.21 K per decade, resulting in about 9.5 % K−1 of water vapor response to temperature from 1993 to 2021. Terrestrial areas experienced greater warming than the ocean, with a ratio of 2 : 1. The total precipitable water change in response to surface temperature changes showed a variation around 6 % K−1–8 % K−1 in the 15–55° N latitude band. Further studies are needed to identify the mechanisms leading to different water vapor responses.
Kyungmin Sung, Max C. A. Torbenson, and James H. Stagge
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2047–2063, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2047-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study examines centuries of nonstationary trends in meteorological drought and pluvial climatology. A novel approach merges tree-ring proxy data (North American Seasonal Precipitation Atlas – NASPA) with instrumental precipitation datasets by temporally downscaling proxy data, correcting biases, and analyzing shared trends in normal and extreme precipitation anomalies. We identify regions experiencing recent unprecedented shifts towards drier or wetter conditions and shifts in seasonality.
Baoying Shan, Niko E. C. Verhoest, and Bernard De Baets
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2065–2080, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2065-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2065-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study developed a convenient and new method to identify the occurrence of droughts, heatwaves, and co-occurring droughts and heatwaves (CDHW) across four seasons. Using this method, we could establish the start and/or end dates of drought (or heatwave) events. We found an increase in the frequency of heatwaves and CDHW events in Belgium caused by climate change. We also found that different months have different chances of CDHW events.
Kazeem Ishola, Gerald Mills, Ankur Sati, Benjamin Obe, Matthias Demuzere, Deepak Upreti, Gourav Misra, Paul Lewis, Daire Walsh, Tim McCarthy, and Rowan Fealy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2023-304, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2023-304, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
The global soil information contributes to uncertainty in many models that monitor soil hydrothermal changes. Using the NOAH-MP model with two different global soil information, we show under-represented soil properties in wet loam soil, leading to dry bias in soil moisture. The dry bias is higher and drought categories are more severe in SOILGRIDS. We conclude that models should consider using detailed regionally-derived soil information, to reduce model uncertainties.
Georgina M. Falster, Nicky M. Wright, Nerilie J. Abram, Anna M. Ukkola, and Benjamin J. Henley
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 1383–1401, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1383-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1383-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Multi-year droughts have severe environmental and economic impacts, but the instrumental record is too short to characterise multi-year drought variability. We assessed the nature of Australian multi-year droughts using simulations of the past millennium from 11 climate models. We show that multi-decadal
megadroughtsare a natural feature of the Australian hydroclimate. Human-caused climate change is also driving a tendency towards longer droughts in eastern and southwestern Australia.
Urmin Vegad, Yadu Pokhrel, and Vimal Mishra
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 1107–1126, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1107-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1107-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A large population is affected by floods, which leave their footprints through human mortality, migration, and damage to agriculture and infrastructure, during almost every summer monsoon season in India. Despite the massive damage of floods, sub-basin level flood risk assessment is still in its infancy and needs to be improved. Using hydrological and hydrodynamic models, we reconstructed sub-basin level observed floods for the 1901–2020 period.
Qi Sun, Patrick Olschewski, Jianhui Wei, Zhan Tian, Laixiang Sun, Harald Kunstmann, and Patrick Laux
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 761–780, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-761-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-761-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical cyclones (TCs) often cause high economic loss due to heavy winds and rainfall, particularly in densely populated regions such as the Pearl River Delta (China). This study provides a reference to set up regional climate models for TC simulations. They contribute to a better TC process understanding and assess the potential changes and risks of TCs in the future. This lays the foundation for hydrodynamical modelling, from which the cities' disaster management and defence could benefit.
Simon Parry, Jonathan D. Mackay, Thomas Chitson, Jamie Hannaford, Eugene Magee, Maliko Tanguy, Victoria A. Bell, Katie Facer-Childs, Alison Kay, Rosanna Lane, Robert J. Moore, Stephen Turner, and John Wallbank
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 417–440, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-417-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-417-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied drought in a dataset of possible future river flows and groundwater levels in the UK and found different outcomes for these two sources of water. Throughout the UK, river flows are likely to be lower in future, with droughts more prolonged and severe. However, whilst these changes are also found in some boreholes, in others, higher levels and less severe drought are indicated for the future. This has implications for the future balance between surface water and groundwater below.
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.
Alexander Gelfan, Andrey Panin, Andrey Kalugin, Polina Morozova, Vladimir Semenov, Alexey Sidorchuk, Vadim Ukraintsev, and Konstantin Ushakov
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 241–259, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-241-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-241-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Paleogeographical data show that 17–13 ka BP, the Caspian Sea level was 80 m above the current level. There are large disagreements on the genesis of this “Great” Khvalynian transgression of the sea, and we tried to shed light on this issue. Using climate and hydrological models as well as the paleo-reconstructions, we proved that the transgression could be initiated solely by hydroclimatic factors within the deglaciation period in the absence of the glacial meltwater effect.
Joeri B. Reinders and Samuel E. Munoz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 217–227, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-217-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-217-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Flooding presents a major hazard for people and infrastructure along waterways; however, it is challenging to study the likelihood of a flood magnitude occurring regionally due to a lack of long discharge records. We show that hydroclimatic variables like Köppen climate regions and precipitation intensity explain part of the variance in flood frequency distributions and thus reduce the uncertainty of flood probability estimates. This gives water managers a tool to locally improve flood analysis.
Mehrad Rahimpour Asenjan, Francois Brissette, Jean-Luc Martel, and Richard Arsenault
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 4355–4367, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4355-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4355-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Climate models are central to climate change impact studies. Some models project a future deemed too hot by many. We looked at how including hot models may skew the result of impact studies. Applied to hydrology, this study shows that hot models do not systematically produce hydrological outliers.
Ross Pidoto and Uwe Haberlandt
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3957–3975, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3957-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3957-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Long continuous time series of meteorological variables (i.e. rainfall, temperature) are required for the modelling of floods. Observed time series are generally too short or not available. Weather generators are models that reproduce observed weather time series. This study extends an existing station-based rainfall model into space by enforcing observed spatial rainfall characteristics. To model other variables (i.e. temperature) the model is then coupled to a simple resampling approach.
Kajsa Maria Parding, Rasmus Emil Benestad, Anita Verpe Dyrrdal, and Julia Lutz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3719–3732, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3719-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3719-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves describe the likelihood of extreme rainfall and are used in hydrology and engineering, for example, for flood forecasting and water management. We develop a model to estimate IDF curves from daily meteorological observations, which are more widely available than the observations on finer timescales (minutes to hours) that are needed for IDF calculations. The method is applied to all data at once, making it efficient and robust to individual errors.
Kaltrina Maloku, Benoit Hingray, and Guillaume Evin
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3643–3661, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3643-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3643-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
High-resolution precipitation data, needed for many applications in hydrology, are typically rare. Such data can be simulated from daily precipitation with stochastic disaggregation. In this work, multiplicative random cascades are used to disaggregate time series of 40 min precipitation from daily precipitation for 81 Swiss stations. We show that very relevant statistics of precipitation are obtained when precipitation asymmetry is accounted for in a continuous way in the cascade generator.
Theresa Boas, Heye Reemt Bogena, Dongryeol Ryu, Harry Vereecken, Andrew Western, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3143–3167, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3143-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3143-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In our study, we tested the utility and skill of a state-of-the-art forecasting product for the prediction of regional crop productivity using a land surface model. Our results illustrate the potential value and skill of combining seasonal forecasts with modelling applications to generate variables of interest for stakeholders, such as annual crop yield for specific cash crops and regions. In addition, this study provides useful insights for future technical model evaluations and improvements.
Yuanhong You, Chunlin Huang, Zuo Wang, Jinliang Hou, Ying Zhang, and Peipei Xu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 2919–2933, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2919-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2919-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study aims to investigate the performance of a genetic particle filter which was used as a snow data assimilation scheme across different snow climates. The results demonstrated that the genetic algorithm can effectively solve the problem of particle degeneration and impoverishment in a particle filter algorithm. The system has revealed a low sensitivity to the particle number in point-scale application of the ground snow depth measurement.
Cited articles
Aligo, E. A., Gallus Jr., W. A., and Segal, M.: On the impact of WRF model
vertical grid resolution on Midwest summer rainfall forecasts, Weather Forecast.,
24, 575–594, 2009.
Bartholmes and Todini: Coupling meteorological and hydrological models for flood
forecasting, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 9, 333–346, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-9-333-2005, 2005.
Berrisford, P., Dee, D. P., Fielding, K., Fuentes, M., Kallberg, P., Kobayashi,
S., and Uppala, S. M.: The ERA-Interim Archive, ERA Report Series, 1, 1–16, 2009.
Brömmel, D., Frings, W., and Wylie, B.: Technical Report Juqueen Extreme
Scaling Workshop 2015, Tech. rep., Jülich, Germany, available at:
http://hdl.handle.net/2128/8435, last access: 17 June 2018.
Castelli, F.: Atmosphere modeling and hydrologic-prediction uncertainty, U.S. – Italy
Research Workshop on the Hydrometeorology, impacts and management of extreme
floods, Perugia, 1995.
Chen, F. and Dudhia, J.: Coupling an advanced land surface-hydrology model with
the Penn State-NCAR MM5 modeling system. Part I: Model implementation and
sensitivity, Mon. Weather Rev., 129, 569–585, 2001.
Chen, H., Sun, J., Chen, X., and Zhou, W.: CGCM projections of heavy rainfall
events in China, Int. J. Climatol., 32, 441–450, 2012.
Clark, P., Roberts, N., Lean, H., Ballard, S. P., and Charlton-Perez, C.:
Convection-permitting models: a step-change in rainfall forecasting, Meteorol.
Appl., 23, 165–181, 2016.
Coen, J. L., Cameron, M., Michalakes, J., Patton, E. G., Riggan, P. J., and
Yedinak, K. M.: WRF-Fire: coupled weather–wildland fire modeling with the
weather research and forecasting model, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 52, 16–38, 2013.
Crétat, J., Pohl, B., Richard, Y., and Drobinski, P.: Uncertainties in
simulating regional climate of Southern Africa: sensitivity to physical
parameterizations using WRF, Clim. Dynam., 38, 613–634, 2012.
Cuo, L., Pagano, T. C., and Wang, Q. J.: A review of quantitative precipitation
forecasts and their use in short-to medium-range streamflow forecasting, J.
Hydrometeorol., 12, 713–728, 2011.
Dee, D. P., Uppala, S. M., Simmons, A. J., Berrisford, P., Poli, P., Kobayashi,
S., Andrae, U., Balmaseda, M. A., Balsamo, G., Bauer, P., Bechtold, P., Beljaars,
A. C. M., van de Berg, L., Bidlot J., Bormann, N., Delsol, C., Dragani, R.,
Fuentes, M., Geer, A. J., Haimberger, L., Healy, S. B., Hersbach, H., Hólm,
E. V., Isaksen, L., Kållberg, P., Köhler, M., Matricardi, M., McNally,
A. P., Monge-Sanz, B. M., Morcrette, J.-J., Park, B.-K., Peubey, C., de Rosnay,
P., Tavolato, C., Thépaut, J.-N., and Vitart, F.: The ERA-Interim reanalysis:
configuration and performance of the data assimilation system, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol.
Soc., 137, 553–597, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.828, 2011.
Di, Z. H., Duan, Q. Y., Gong, W., Wang, C., Gan, Y. J., Quan, J. P., Li, J. D.,
Miao, C. Y., Ye, A. Z., and Tong, C.: Assessing WRF model parameter sensitivity:
A case study with five-day summer precipitation forecasting in the Greater Beijing
Area, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 579–587, 2015.
Done, J., Davis, C. A., and Weisman, M.: The next generation of NWP: Explicit
forecasts of convection using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model,
Atmos. Sci. Lett., 5, 110–117, 2004.
Ek, M. B., Mitchell, K. E., Lin, Y., Rogers, E., Grunmann, P., Koren, V., Gayno,
G., and Tarpley, J. D.: Implementation of Noah land surface model advances in
the National Centers for Environmental Prediction operational mesoscale Eta
model, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 108, 8851, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD003296, 2003.
Fierro, A. O., Rogers, R. F., Marks, F. D., and Nolan, D. S.: The impact of
horizontal grid spacing on the microphysical and kinematic structures of strong
tropical cyclones simulated with the WRF-ARW model, Mon. Weather Rev., 137, 3717–3743, 2009.
Foley, A. M., Leahy, P. G., Marvuglia, A., and McKeogh, E. J.: Current methods
and advances in forecasting of wind power generation, Renewable Energy, 37, 1–8, 2012.
Gao, Y., Yuan, Y., Wang, H., Schmidt, A. R., Wang, K., and Ye, L.: Examining
the effects of urban agglomeration polders on flood events in Qinhuai River
basin, China with HEC-HMS model, Water Sci. Technol., 75, 2130–2138, 2017.
Goswami, P., Shivappa, H., and Goud, S.: Comparative analysis of the role of
domain size, horizontal resolution and initial conditions in the simulation of
tropical heavy rainfall events, Meteorol. Appl., 19, 170–178, 2012.
Grell, G. A. and Dévényi, D.: A generalized approach to parameterizing
convection combining ensemble and data assimilation techniques, Geophys. Res.
Lett., 29, 1693, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GL015311, 2002.
Guo, C., Xiao, H., Yang, H., and Tang, Q.: Observation and modeling analyses
of the macro-and microphysical characteristics of a heavy rain storm in Beijing,
Atmos. Res., 156, 125–141, 2015.
Heinzeller, D., Duda, M. G., and Kunstmann, H.: Towards convection-resolving,
global atmospheric simulations with the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) v3.1:
an extreme scaling experiment, Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 77–110, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-77-2016, 2016.
Hong, S. Y. and Lee, J. W.: Assessment of the WRF model in reproducing a
flash-flood heavy rainfall event over Korea, Atmos. Res., 93, 818–831, 2009.
Hong, S. Y. and Lim, J. O. J.: The WRF single-moment 6-class microphysics
scheme (WSM6), J. Korean Meteorol. Soc., 42, 129–151, 2006.
Hong, S. Y., Noh, Y., and Dudhia, J.: A new vertical diffusion package with an
explicit treatment of entrainment processes, Mon. Weather Rev., 134, 2318–2341, 2006.
Huang, C., Zheng, X., Tait, A., Dai, Y., Yang, C., Chen, Z., Li, T., and Wang,
Z.: On using smoothing spline and residual correction to fuse rain gauge
observations and remote sensing data, J. Hydrol., 508, 410–417, 2013.
Iacono, M. J., Delamere, J. S., Mlawer, E. J., Shephard, M. W., Clough, S. A.,
and Collins, W. D.: Radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases: calculations
with the AER radiative transfer models, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 113, D13103,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD009944, 2008.
Kain, J. S., Weiss, S. J., Bright, D. R., Baldwin, M. E., Levit, J. J., Carbin,
G. W., Schwartz, C. S., Weisman, M. L., Droegemeeier, K. K., Weber, D. B., and
Thomas, K. W.: Some practical considerations regarding horizontal resolution
in the first generation of operational convection-allowing NWP, Weather Forecast.,
23, 931–952, 2008.
Kleczek, M. A., Steeneveld, G. J., and Holtslag, A. A.: Evaluation of the
weather research and forecasting mesoscale model for GABLS3: impact of
boundary-layer schemes, boundary conditions and spin-up, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol.,
152, 213–243, 2014.
Klemp, J. B.: Advances in the WRF model for convection-resolving forecasting,
Adv. Geosci., 7, 25–29, https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-7-25-2006, 2006.
Leduc, M. and Laprise, R.: Regional climate model sensitivity to domain size,
Clim. Dynam., 32, 833–854, 2009.
Li, J., Chen, Y., Wang, H., Qin, J., Li, J., and Chiao, S.: Extending flood
forecasting lead time in a large watershed by coupling WRF QPF with a distributed
hydrological model, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 1279–1294, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1279-2017, 2017.
Liu, J., Bray, M., and Han, D.: Sensitivity of the Weather Research and
Forecasting (WRF) model to downscaling ratios and storm types in rainfall
simulation, Hydrol. Process., 26, 3012–3031, 2012.
Luna, T., Castanheira, M., and Rocha, A.: Assessment of WRF-ARW forecasts
using warm initializations, available at: http://climetua.fis.ua.pt/publicacoes/APMG_extended_abstract_2013_Luna_et_al.pdf
(last access: 17 June 2018), 2013.
Miguez-Macho, G., Stenchikov, G. L., and Robock, A.: Spectral nudging to
eliminate the effects of domain position and geometry in regional climate model
simulations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D13104, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD004495, 2004.
Powers, J. G., Klemp, J. B., Skamarock, W. C., Davis, C. A., Dudhia, J., Gill,
D. O., Coen, J. L., and Grell, G. A.: The Weather Research and Forecasting Model:
Overview, System Efforts, and Future Directions, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 98,
1717–1737, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00308.1, 2017.
Prein, A. F., Langhans, W., Fosser, G., Ferrone, A., Ban, N., Goergen, K.,
Keller, M., Tölle, M., Gitjahr, O., Feser, F., Brisson, E., Kollet, S.,
Schmidli, J., van Lipzig, N. P. M., and Leung, R.: A review on regional
convection-permitting climate modeling: Demonstrations, prospects, and challenges,
Rev. Geophys., 53, 323–361, 2015.
Roberts, N. M. and Lean, H. W.: Scale-selective verification of rainfall
accumulations from high-resolution forecasts of convective events, Mon. Weather
Rev., 136, 78–97, 2008.
Ruiz, J. J., Saulo, C., and Nogués-Paegle, J.: WRF model sensitivity to
choice of parameterization over South America: validation against surface
variables, Mon. Weather Rev., 138, 3342–3355, 2010.
Schwartz, C. S., Kain, J. S., Weiss, S. J., Xue, M., Bright, D. R., Kong, F. Y.,
Thomas, K. W., Levit, J. J., and Coniglio, M. C.: Next-day convection-allowing
WRF model guidance: A second look at 2-km versus 4-km grid spacing, Mon. Weather
Rev., 137, 3351–3372, 2009.
Seth, A. and Rojas, M.: Simulation and sensitivity in a nested modeling system
for South America. Part I: Reanalyses boundary forcing, J. Climate, 16, 2437–2453, 2003.
Shih, D. S., Chen, C. H., and Yeh, G. T.: Improving our understanding of flood
forecasting using earlier hydro-meteorological intelligence, J. Hydrol.,
512, 470–481, 2014.
Sikder, S. and Hossain, F.: Assessment of the weather research and forecasting
model generalized parameterization schemes for advancement of precipitation
forecasting in monsoon-driven river basins, J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 8, 1210–1228, 2016.
Skamarock, W. C., Klemp, J. B., Dudhia, J., Gill, D. O., Barker, D. M., Duda,
M. G., Huang, X. Y., Wang, W., and Powers, J. G.: A Description of the Advanced
Research WRF Version 3, NCAR Note NCAR/TN-475, NCAR, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 2008.
Soares, P. M., Cardoso, R. M., Miranda, P. M., de Medeiros, J., Belo-Pereira,
M., and Espirito-Santo, F.: WRF high resolution dynamical downscaling of
ERA-Interim for Portugal, Clim. Dynam., 39, 2497–2522, 2012.
Sun, M. S., Yang, L. Q., Yin, Q., Niu, Z. Y., and Gao, L. M.: Analysis of the
cause of a torrential rain occurring in Beijing on 21 July 2012, Torrent. Rain
Disast., 32, 218–223, 2013.
Swinbank, R. and James Purser, R.: Fibonacci grids: A novel approach to global
modeling, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 132, 1769–1793, 2006.
Tian, J., Liu, J., Yan, D., Li, C., and Yu, F.: Numerical rainfall simulation
with different spatial and temporal evenness by using a WRF multiphysics
ensemble, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 563–579, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-17-563-2017, 2017.
Vrac, M., Drobinski, P., Merlo, A., Herrmann, M., Lavaysse, C., Li, L., and
Somot, S.: Dynamical and statistical downscaling of the French Mediterranean
climate: uncertainty assessment, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 12, 2769–2784,
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-12-2769-2012, 2012.
Wang, K., Wang, L., Wei, Y. M., and Ye, M.: Beijing storm of July 21, 2012:
observations and reflections, Nat. Hazards, 67, 969–974, 2013.
Wang, S. L., Kang, H. W., Gu, X. Q., and Ni, Y. Q.: Numerical Simulation of
Mesoscale Convective System in the Warm Sector of Beijing `7.21' Severe
Rainstorm, Meteorol. Mon., 41, 544–553, 2015.
Warner, T. T.: Quality assurance in atmospheric modeling, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc.,
92, 1601–1610, 2011.
Warner, T. T., Peterson, R. A., and Treadon, R. E.: A tutorial on lateral
boundary conditions as a basic and potentially serious limitation to regional
numerical weather prediction, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 78, 2599–2617, 1997.
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, 2014.
Willems, P., Arnbjerg-Nielsen, K., Olsson, J., and Nguyen, V. T. V.: Climate
change impact assessment on urban rainfall extremes and urban drainage: methods
and shortcomings, Atmos. Res., 103, 106–118, 2012.
WMO: Anticipated advances in numerical weather prediction, and the growing
technology gap in weather forecast, available at: https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/swfdp/Meetings/documents/Advances_NWP.pdf
(last access: 17 June 2018), 2013.
Xu, Z. X. and Chu, Q.: Climatological features and trends of extreme precipitation
during 1979–2012 in Beijing, China, P. Int. Assoc. Hydrolog. Sci., 369, 97–102, 2015.
Xu, Z. X. and Zhao, G.: Impact of urbanization on rainfall-runoff processes:
case study in the Liangshui River Basin in Beijing, China, P. Int. Assoc.
Hydrolog. Sci., 373, 7–12, 2016.
Yu, E.-T., Wang, H.-J., and Sun, J.-Q.: A quick report on a dynamical downscaling
simulation over China using the nested model, Atmos. Ocean. Sc. Lett., 3, 325–329, 2010.
Yu, R., Xu, Y., Zhou, T., and Li, J.: Relation between rainfall duration and
diurnal variation in the warm season precipitation over central eastern China,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L13703, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030315, 2007.
Yu, W., Nakakita, E., Kim, S., and Yamaguchi, K.: Impact Assessment of
Uncertainty Propagation of Ensemble NWP Rainfall to Flood Forecasting with
Catchment Scale, Adv. Meteorol., 4, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/1384302, 2016.
Yucel, I., Onen, A., Yilmaz, K. K., and Gochis, D. J.: Calibration and
evaluation of a flood forecasting system: Utility of numerical weather
prediction model, data assimilation and satellite-based rainfall, J. Hydrol.,
523, 49–66, 2015.
Zhou, Y. S., Liu, L., Zhu, K. F., and Li, J. T.: Simulation and evolution
characteristics of mesoscale systems occurring in Beijing on 21 July 2012,
Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 38, 885–896, 2014.
Short summary
The effects of WRF domain configurations and spin-up time on rainfall were evaluated at high temporal and spatial scales for simulating an extreme sub-daily heavy rainfall (SDHR) event. Both objective verification metrics and subjective verification were used to identify the likely best set of the configurations. Results show that re-evaluation of these WRF settings is of great importance in improving the accuracy and reliability of the rainfall simulations in the regional SDHR applications.
The effects of WRF domain configurations and spin-up time on rainfall were evaluated at high...
