Rainfall-runoff relationships in semi-arid environments are highly non-linear due to the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation and watershed antecedent soil moisture conditions. Specifically within dryland regions, precipitation is often short in duration, limited in spatial extent, and characterized by high intensities. When combined with seasonal periods of elevated basin wetness,...

Conventionally flood mapping typically includes only a static water level (e.g. peak of a storm tide) in coastal flood inundation events. Additional factors become increasingly important when increased water-level thresholds are met during the combination of a storm tide and increased mean sea level. This research incorporates factors such as wave overtopping and river flow in a range of flood ...

Floods through inundated urban environments constitute a hazard to the population and infrastructure. A series of field measurements were performed in an inundated section of the City of Brisbane (Australia) during a major flood in January 2011. Using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV), detailed velocity and suspended sediment concentration measurements were conducted about the peak of the f...

Papers published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions are under open-access review for the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Abstract This paper presents a case study to estimate peak discharges of extreme flood events of Neckar River in southwestern Germany during the 19th century. It was carried out within the BMBF research project RIMAX (Risk Management of Extreme Flo...

River channels and their flood plains are among the most naturally dynamic ecosystems on earth, in large part due to periodic flooding. The components of a river's natural flood regime (magnitude, frequency, duration and timing of peak flows) interact to maintain great habitat heterogeneity and to promote high species diversity and ecosystem productivity. Flood regimes vary within and among riv...

The rainfall input is one of the main factors influencing the magnitude of the runoff response during a flood event. Its temporal and spatial distribution significantly contributes to the formation of hydrograph shape, peak discharge and flood volume. a novel approach to the evaluation of the role of the temporal rainfall pattern of hydrograph is presented in this contribution. The methodology ...

Determining the role of different precipitation periods for peak discharge generation is crucial for both projecting future changes in flood probability and for shortand medium-range flood forecasting. In this study, catchmentaveraged daily precipitation time series are analyzed prior to annual peak discharge events (floods) in Switzerland. The high number of floods considered – more than 4000 ...