Comprehensive space–time hydrometeorological simulations for estimating very rare floods at multiple sites in a large river basin

Abstract 2) with exceedingly long simulations in a hydrometeorological model chain. The chain starts with a multi-site stochastic weather generator used to generate 30 realizations of hourly precipitation and temperature scenarios of 10 000 years each. These realizations were then run through a bucket-type hydrological model for 80 sub-catchments and finally routed downstream with a simplified representation of main river channels, major lakes and relevant floodplains in a hydrologic routing system. Comprehensive evaluation over different temporal and spatial scales showed that the main features of the meteorological and hydrological observations are well represented and that meaningful information on low-probability floods can be inferred. Although uncertainties are still considerable, the explicit consideration of important processes of flood generation and routing (snow accumulation, snowmelt, soil moisture storage, bank overflow, lake and floodplain retention) is a substantial advantage. The approach allows for comprehensively exploring possible but unobserved spatial and temporal patterns of hydrometeorological behaviour. This is of particular value in a large river basin where the complex interaction of flows from individual tributaries and lake regulations are typically not well represented in the streamflow observations. The framework is also suitable for estimating more frequent floods, as often required in engineering and hazard mapping.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Comprehensive space–time hydrometeorological simulations for estimating very rare floods at multiple sites in a large river basin ; volume:22 ; number:9 ; year:2022 ; pages:2891-2920 ; extent:30 ; Natural hazards and earth system sciences ; 22, Heft 9 (2022), 2891-2920 (gesamt 30)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Viviroli, Daniel ; Sikorska-Senoner, Anna E. ; Evin, Guillaume ; Staudinger, Maria ; Kauzlaric, Martina ; Chardon, Jérémy ; Favre, Anne-Catherine ; Hingray, Benoit ; Nicolet, Gilles ; Raynaud, Damien ; Seibert, Jan ; Weingartner, Rolf ; Whealton, Calvin

Further information

• DOI: 10.5194/nhess-22-2891-2022
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022090805253003081981
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:33 AM CEST