ITS2.3/CL0.1.1 | Compound weather and climate events
EDI
Compound weather and climate events
Convener: Emanuele BevacquaECSECS | Co-conveners: Zengchao Hao, Pauline RivoireECSECS, Wiebke Jäger, Seth Westra
Orals
| Fri, 19 Apr, 08:30–12:30 (CEST), 14:00–15:45 (CEST)
 
Room 2.24
Posters on site
| Attendance Fri, 19 Apr, 16:15–18:00 (CEST) | Display Fri, 19 Apr, 14:00–18:00
 
Hall X5
Posters virtual
| Attendance Fri, 19 Apr, 14:00–15:45 (CEST) | Display Fri, 19 Apr, 08:30–18:00
 
vHall X5
Orals |
Fri, 08:30
Fri, 16:15
Fri, 14:00
High-impact climate and weather events typically result from the interaction of multiple climate and weather drivers, as well as vulnerability and exposure, across various spatial and temporal scales. Such compound events often cause more severe socio-economic impacts than single-hazard events, rendering traditional univariate extreme event analyses and risk assessment techniques insufficient. It is, therefore, crucial to develop new methodologies that account for the possible interaction of multiple physical and societal drivers when analysing high-impact events under present and future conditions. Despite the considerable attention from the scientific community and stakeholders in recent years, several challenges and topics must still be addressed comprehensively.


These include: (1) identifying the compounding drivers, including physical drivers (e.g., modes of variability) and/or drivers of vulnerability and exposure, of the most impactful events; (2) Developing methods for defining compound event boundaries, i.e. legitimate the ‘cut-offs’ in the considered number of hazard types to ultimately disentangle enough information for decision-making; (3) Understanding whether and how often novel compound events, including record-shattering events, will emerge in the future; (4) Explicitly addressing and communicating uncertainties in present-day and future assessments (e.g., via climate storylines/scenarios); (5) Disentangling the contribution of climate change in recently observed events and future projections; (6) Employing novel Single Model Initial-condition Large Ensemble simulations from climate models, which provide hundreds to thousands of years of weather, to better study compound events. (7) Developing novel statistical methods (e.g., machine learning, artificial intelligence, and climate model emulators) for compound events; (8) Assessing the weather forecast skill for compound events at different temporal scales; (9) Evaluating the performance of novel statistical methods, climate and impact models, in representing compound events and developing novel methods for reducing uncertainties (e.g., multivariate bias correction and emergent constraints); and (10) engaging with stakeholders to ensure the relevance of the aforementioned analyses.


We invite presentations considering all aspects of compound events, including but not limited to the topics and research challenges described above.

Orals: Fri, 19 Apr | Room 2.24

Chairpersons: Zengchao Hao, Emanuele Bevacqua
08:30–08:32
Multivariate events
08:32–08:42
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EGU24-109
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Elody Fluck

 

Weather Compound Events (WCE), broadly defined as “the combination of multiple drivers and/or hazards that contributes to societal or environmental risk” [1], contribute to important societal impacts and widespread economical damages. However, the underlying mechanisms and complete storylines of these events are complex and not well understood yet.

In this study, we build an 25-year database of co-occurrent hot and dry compound events (HDCE) including heatwaves, droughts, dust storms and wildfires affecting Europe and the Mediterranean Basin from 2003 to 2020. based on Earth Observation exclusively. Individual natural hazards were systematically identified by a spatial and temporal matching algorithm applied on consistent ESA CCI Earth Observation datasets. The resulting individual natural hazard masks were then overlayed over Europe and permitted to identify regions simultaneously affected by two or more natural hazards on a daily basis. The climatology revealed HDCE hotspots among others in Northern Italy, Balkans and Caucasus regions.

Characteristics of HDCE such as their duration, intensity and spatial extension are stored in the database. HDCE could also be associated with a severity index to aid comparison across events.

Long-term statistics of the generated HDCE have shown a high interannual variability with HDCE being more frequent during the 5 last years rather than two decades ago.

The large-scale preconditions preceding and occurring during HDCE are investigated as well in this study and revealed systematic patterns in the atmospheric dynamics.

 

[1] Zscheischler, J., Martius, O., Westra, S., Bevacqua, E., Raymond, C., Horton, R.M., van den Hurk, B., AghaKouchak, A., Jézéquel, A., Mahecha, M.D. and Maraun, D., 2020. A typology of compound weather and climate events. Nature reviews earth & environment1(7), pp.333-347.

How to cite: Fluck, E.: A 25-year assessment of Hot and Dry Weather Compound Events in Europe using Earth Observation , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-109, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-109, 2024.

08:42–08:52
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EGU24-11345
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Virtual presentation
Rajarshi Das Bhowmik, Ruhhee Tabbussum, and Pradeep Mujumdar

The variability in the occurrence of concurrent extremes like droughts and heatwaves is often attributed to climate change and anthropogenic factors, neglecting its connection with large-scale global teleconnections. The current study investigates the temporal and spatial connections between concurrent droughts and heatwaves (CDHW) in India to large scale global teleconnections like El Nino Southern Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and Indian Ocean Dipole. Utilizing composite and wavelet coherence analyses, we conduct a univariate assessment of droughts and heatwaves, quantified with the standardized precipitation index and standardized heat index, respectively, in association with large-scale global teleconnections (referred as climate drivers). Further, a novel attribution table framework proposed to quantify the conditional probability of CDHW given the onset of climate drivers. We found that the probability of CDHW preceeding the onset of climate drivers is much higher compared to the probability of CDHW occuring without the onset of climate drivers. The insights from this study suggest the potential use of global teleconnections for issuing season-ahead forecasts of CDHW.

How to cite: Das Bhowmik, R., Tabbussum, R., and Mujumdar, P.: Understanding the association between global teleconnections and concurrent drought and heatwaves events over India, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11345, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11345, 2024.

08:52–09:02
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EGU24-18528
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Alvise Aranyossy, Markus Donat, Paolo Deluca, Carlos Delgado-Torres, and Balakrishnan Solaraju-Murali

We investigate the representation of compound hot-dry events in decadal predictions and their relationship with their univariate hot and dry components. We use a CMIP6 multi-model ensemble (MME) of 125 members from the Decadal Climate Prediction Project (DCPP) hindcast simulations and compare it with different observational references. Our analysis focuses on the first five lead years of the simulations, with the different ensemble members initialised every year from 1960 to 2014. We analyse the skill of predicting hot, dry and hot-dry events in the multi-model ensemble. Specifically, we select the days above the 90th percentile of the daily maximum temperature for hot events. For dry events, we use two indicators, the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), with accumulation periods of 3, 6 and 12 months, and we consider a dry event a month that shows an SPI or an SPEI value ≤1. Finally, we identify days that present both hot and dry conditions according to these criteria as compound hot-dry days.

Preliminary results for the observations show a strong correlation between precipitation and the occurrence of compound events, especially for long accumulation periods, suggesting the importance of dryness as a driver for compound hot-dry events. In the DCPP hindcasts, the hot events show some robust predictive skill, mainly as a consequence of the increasing trend in temperature. On the other hand, dry events show sparse skill, concentrated in dry areas of the world and especially for extended accumulation periods. Further analysis of the skill of compound events and their relationship to their univariate counterparts in DCPP hindcasts will shed light on the representation of such events in decadal forecasts. However, these initial results underline the importance of precipitation in both the occurrence of present hot-dry compound events and the prediction of such events in the future.

How to cite: Aranyossy, A., Donat, M., Deluca, P., Delgado-Torres, C., and Solaraju-Murali, B.: Interconnections and decadal predictability of global hot, dry and compound hot-dry events, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18528, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18528, 2024.

09:02–09:12
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EGU24-15827
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On-site presentation
Patterns of compound drought and heatwave events in the Mediterranean and their atmospheric circulation drivers
(withdrawn after no-show)
Kostas Philippopoulos, Athina-Kyriaki Zazani, Constantinos Cartalis, and Ilias Agathangelidis
09:12–09:22
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EGU24-10748
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Giorgia Di Capua, Yinglin Tian, Domenico Giaquinto, Judith Claassen, Javed Ali, Hao Li, and Carlo De Michele

Hot and dry extreme events in Europe have become more frequent and pose serious threats to human health, agriculture, infrastructure, and ecology. Single and compound hot and dry extremes in Europe have been attributed to synoptic atmospheric circulation variations and land-atmosphere interactions. However, the exact causal pathways and their strength, as well as their historical trends, have not been quantified. An accurate understanding of the mechanisms behind these land-atmosphere extremes is crucial to improving S2S forecasts and implementing appropriate adaptation measures. Here, we use the Peter and Clark momentary conditional independence (PCMCI) based Causal Effect Networks (CENs) to detect and quantify dynamic and thermodynamic causal precursors of extremely high 2m temperature (T2m) and extremely low soil water deficit and surplus (WSD) in central Europe (CEU).

Our analysis reveals that the single hot events are driven mainly by anomalous atmospheric patterns and soil water deficiency, while single dry events are mainly driven by the soil moisture memory, and anomalous atmospheric patterns, and only marginally by temperature changes. The atmospheric circulation patterns preceding both single hot and dry events show a high-pressure system over central Europe, with a low-pressure system over the Atlantic Ocean, and partly explain the occurrence of the compound events. This atmospheric pattern is also linked to an anomalous zonal cold-warm-cold SST pattern over the Atlantic Ocean and a warmer eastern Pacific Ocean.

The identified causal links vary with temperature and humidity conditions, that is, the impact of soil moisture memory on the WSD variation is sensitive to T2m and WSD, while the influence of soil moisture condition on T2m changes is strengthened by reduced WSD. Moreover, during compound hot and dry extremes, the effect of reduced soil moisture on temperature is significantly higher than during single events, reaching twice the magnitude under moderate conditions. When historical trends are analyzed, we show that the impact of dry soil on temperature is amplified by 42% (46%) for single (compound) extremes during 1979-2020, while the influence of atmospheric drivers on soil moisture is intensified by 28% (43%).

This work emphasizes (i) the intensification of the strength of the thermodynamic causal pathways for warmer and dryer CEU over time and (ii) the stress on the varying forcing strength of the drivers, which can lead to non-linear variations of weather stressors under climate changes and thus add extra challenges to extreme adaptations.

 

 

How to cite: Di Capua, G., Tian, Y., Giaquinto, D., Claassen, J., Ali, J., Li, H., and De Michele, C.: Changes in the causal effect networks of single and compound extreme hot and dry events in Central Europe, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10748, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10748, 2024.

09:22–09:32
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EGU24-134
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ECS
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Highlight
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On-site presentation
Marc Lemus-Canovas, Damian Insua-Costa, Ricardo M. Trigo, and Diego G. Miralles

In April 2023, the Western Mediterranean region was hit by an exceptional and unprecedented heatwave that broke several temperature records. In Cordoba (Spain), the previous April maximum temperature record was exceeded by almost 5ºC. In this study, we investigated the interaction between soil moisture and the extreme temperatures reached during this event, using the latest available observational data and several statistical techniques capable of quantifying this relationship. Our results revealed that soil moisture deficit preconditions, concurring with a strong subtropical ridge as a synoptic driver, had a key contribution to the amplification of this record-breaking heatwave. Specifically, we estimated that the most extreme temperature records would have been 4.53 times less likely and 2.19°C lower if the soils had been wet. These findings indicated that soil moisture content may be a crucial variable for seasonal forecasting of early HW in this region and other Mediterranean climate regimes that already suffering an increment in the frequency of compound drought–heatwave events. 

How to cite: Lemus-Canovas, M., Insua-Costa, D., Trigo, R. M., and Miralles, D. G.: Revealing the role of long-term drought in the record-shattering April 2023 heatwave in the Western Mediterranean, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-134, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-134, 2024.

09:32–09:42
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EGU24-14205
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Cassandra Rogers and Robert Warren

It is well known that heat extremes have increased in frequency, intensity, and duration over recent decades. However, since extreme heat is typically examined using dry-bulb temperature, the reported changes do not fully reflect the impacts these events may have on human health. By accounting for humidity in measures of extreme heat, we can gain a better understanding of the health risk associated with these events in current and future climates.  

  

A variety of indices are used to examine humid heat. One of the simplest is wet-bulb temperature (Tw), which is defined as the temperature of a parcel of air cooled to saturation by the evaporation of water into it. Tw is typically calculated using empirical equations (e.g., Stull 2011, Davies-Jones 2008); however, these can be inaccurate for extreme values or slow due to the need for iterations in the solution. Here, we present a fast and highly accurate calculation of Tw, which we call NEWT (Noniterative Evaluation of Wet-bulb Temperature). This method follows the diagrammatic approach to evaluating Tw, where a parcel is lifted dry adiabatically to its lifting condensation level (LCL) and then brought pseudoadiabatically back to its original level. To avoid the need for iterations, NEWT uses exact equations for the LCL from Romps (2017) and a modified version of the high-order polynomial fits to pseudoadiabats from Moisseeva and Stull (2017).  

  

A comparison of NEWT with three other methods for calculating Tw (Stull, MetPy, and Davies-Jones) reveals a marked improvement in accuracy, with maximum errors of ~0.01°C (cf. ~1.3°C for Stull, ~0.4°C for MetPy, and ~0.05°C for Davies-Jones). The accuracy of each method is further assessed using Automatic Weather Station data from the Bureau of Meteorology, with a focus on extreme values. 

How to cite: Rogers, C. and Warren, R.: Fast and Accurate Calculation of Wet-bulb Temperature for Humid-Heat Extremes, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14205, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14205, 2024.

09:42–09:52
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EGU24-18959
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On-site presentation
Barry Evans, Albert Chen, Alex De La Cruz Coronas, Beniamino Russo, Agnese Turchi, Mattia Leone, and Marianne Büegelmayer

With the intensity and frequency of climate driven disasters increasing as result of climate change, there is ever more need to plan for such events and develop means to mitigate against them (UNDRR, 2015). Traditionally, the assessment of risks and impacts to regions posed by climate extreme events have been carried out in a “one at a time” approach, where the effects of each hazard, are assessed individually (Russo et al., 2023). However, it is recognised that  a transition to a more multi-hazard and multisectoral approach  is needed to be more efficient and effective in mitigating the risks/impacts posed to society, infrastructures, or the environment (Sendai Framework, 2015), (Russo et al. 2023). Whilst risk/impact assessment modelling can be complex, the derivation of risk/impacts is complicated further within a multi-hazard assessment due to the interdependent relationships between hazard, exposure and vulnerability, and that these vary over time in response to a preceding hazard (Gill et al. 2021).

The European Funded ICARIA project seeks to create an asset level modelling framework for understanding the potential risks/impacts posed by multi-hazard climate driven hazards, whilst also providing insight into cost-effective means of mitigating against them through the application of suitable adaptation measures. Two of the key challenges when transitioning from a single to a multi-hazard modelling approach are that (1) hazards are not directly comparable due differences in their processes and metrics, and (2) the effects of one hazard can influence the behaviour/characteristics of another hazard (Forzieri et al., 2016). To simulate the potential risks/impacts that could result from the modelled range of compound and consecutive hazards, a two-stage approach is being adopted that consists of (1) a deterministic physical modelling approach for quantifying the risks/impacts that can arise through simulation of various compound and consecutive hazard scenarios, along with (2) a stochastic Bayesian Network (BN) method for defining the probability distribution of such events. The BN will consider historical data for defining the probability distribution of modelled, multi-hazard scenarios for both current and future scenarios whilst data from the physical modelling will be used for defining the distribution of parameters relating to exposure, vulnerability, and impacts for the business as usual (no adaptation) and future adaptation scenarios.

 

Acknowledgement

The ICARIA project (Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Assets) is funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe Programme, grant number 101093806. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101093806.

 

References

Forzieri, G., Feyen, L., Russo, S., Vousdoukas, M., Alfieri, L., Outten, S., Migliavacca, M., Bianchi, A., Rojas, R., & Cid, A. (2016). Multi-hazard assessment in Europe under climate change. Climatic Change, 137(1), 105–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-016-1661-x

Gill, J. C., Hussain, E., & Malamud, B. D. (2021). Workshop Report: Multi-Hazard Risk Scenarios for Tomorrow’s Cities.

Russo, B., de la Cruz Coronas, À., Leone, M., Evans, B., Brito, R. S., Havlik, D., Bügelmayer-Blaschek, M., Pacheco, D., & Sfetsos, A. (2023). Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Assets: The ICARIA Project. Sustainability, 15(19). https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914090

“United Nations - Headquarters United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.” (2015). Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

How to cite: Evans, B., Chen, A., De La Cruz Coronas, A., Russo, B., Turchi, A., Leone, M., and Büegelmayer, M.: Bayesian Network Approach for Assessing Probability of Multi-Hazard Climate Driven Events, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18959, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18959, 2024.

09:52–10:02
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EGU24-5986
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On-site presentation
Pedro Jimenez-Guerrero, Ivana Cvijanovic, Xavier Rodó, and Patricia Tarín-Carrasco

Compound extreme weather events (CE), characterized by the concurrent influence of multiple weather and climate drivers, have the potential to exacerbate the concentration of air pollution on the atmosphere. Attributing specific extreme weather events directly to climate change is challenging; however, it is widely acknowledged that climate change will intensify different extreme events by changing their frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration, and timing. Several types of weather extremes, such as stagnation conditions and heatwaves (HW), can lead to hazardous air quality situations by allowing some pollutants, such as ozone (O3), to accumulate and persist in the near-surface environment. O3 is in general more pronounced in the summer due to the photochemical nature of the source. Given its highly heterogeneous distribution across both space and time, combined with a relatively short life-time, it becomes imperative to gain insights into the patterns governing the global spatial data distribution related to this complex phenomenon. This study aims to evaluate the amplifying effects of CE (concurrence of stagnation and heatwaves) on O3 peak levels globally during the summer season.

The study utilizes the simulations of historical 1980-2009) and future (2050-2079) climate under the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSP) SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5. Using a model from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), the investigation explores the global temporo-spatial trends and disparities in compound-event occurrences across countries.

We find that O3 concentrations during the summer are higher in the center of North America and the center of the Asian continent compare with the other parts in the world (surpassing the 85 pbb during summer). A significant disparity in ozone concentrations was observed between the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. The SSP5-8.5 scenario demonstrates notably higher concentrations of peak O3 compared to the historical period, with increase of up to 20 ppb in certain regions, such as the Asian continent. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that O3 concentrations are expected to decrease in the future in the central part of North America in both scenarios up to 15 ppb during the summer season.

Focusing on CE throughout the summer season and under all scenarios studied, elevated O3 concentrations are observed worldwide during CE compared to non-event conditions, particularly during heatwaves, with an increase of 40, 35 and 40 ppb during summer in the historical, SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios in comparison with non-event conditions. These heatwave events generally dominate the formation of O3 peak concentrations during CE.

Comparatively, during stagnation events, the highest peak O3 concentrations undergo a substantial increase in the mid-to-late century scenario, notably in the Asian continent, with a projected increase of nearly 12% in Ofor the SSP2-4.5 scenario and a 25% increase for the SSP5-8.5 scenario. Conversely, during combined heatwave and stagnation events in the SSP2-4.5 scenario, a decrease in average concentrations is expected in the future across all continents.

These results underscore the imperative need to further mitigate air pollutant emissions during weather extremes to minimize the adverse impacts of these events on air quality and human health.

How to cite: Jimenez-Guerrero, P., Cvijanovic, I., Rodó, X., and Tarín-Carrasco, P.: Compound events increase the ground-level tropospheric ozone concentrations worldwide., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5986, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5986, 2024.

10:02–10:12
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EGU24-14082
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Virtual presentation
Mahjabeen Fatema Mitu, Giulia Sofia, Xinyi Shen, and Emmanouil N. Anagnostou

The intricate physical complexity of compound coastal flooding—resulting from the combination of river floods and storm surges—is known for often leading to more severe consequences than independent-driver floods. Damages from this type of flooding are expected to increase due to the impact of climate change on precipitation patterns and coastal storms, coupled with the increasing trends in population growth and economic activities along coastal regions. In the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the largest provider of flood insurance policies, and currently, more than two million NFIP flood claim transactions (1978 to present) are available to the public for analysis. However, there is a lack of studies that analyze how compound events reflect on insurance claims.

In this study, we focus on over 60,000 counties across the entire coastline of the United States to provide an exhaustive analysis of the distribution of economic losses in areas subject to river flooding, coastal flooding, and regions susceptible to compound events.

To identify the relative importance of the driving mechanisms (inland vs. coastal flows) for a particular location, we apply a published index [D-Index, readers are referred to the article, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130278 for details] that is capable of physically attributing the cause of flood depth to either river or coastal drivers, or a combination of both rainfall and storm surge.

We focus the analysis on the number of damages reported in the claims, comparing and contrasting claims in counties physically labeled as coastal, river, or compound. By calculating the quantile weight distance (QWD) of the damages from claims in the ‘compound’ counties and claims in the ‘independent-driver’ counties, we further investigate how rainfall and tide characteristics of storm events relate to the NFIP flood claims in the case of compound events. We further quantify differences in QWD by comparing and contrasting FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (identifying the 1-percent annual chance floodplain), where insurance is required for homes financed through federally backed or federally-regulated lenders, and FEMA’s low and moderate-risk flood zones, where flood insurance is not required.

In conclusion, this study furnishes invaluable insights into the intricate challenges of assessing compound coastal flooding impacts on insurance claims. The proposed methodology, integrating a flood type-specific mapping system and considering spatial variabilities of inundation characteristics, establishes a robust foundation for a comprehensive and improved flood risk assessment in coastal CONUS.

These findings empower coastal communities to proactively manage concealed risks and fortify their resilience against the compounding impacts of environmental forcings. This research offers a proactive and informed strategy to mitigate the potentially disastrous consequences of compound coastal flooding in a changing climate and socio-economic landscape.

How to cite: Mitu, M. F., Sofia, G., Shen, X., and Anagnostou, E. N.: Translating Flood Insurance Claims in the Coastal CONUS within the Spectrum of Compound Flood Risk, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14082, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14082, 2024.

10:12–10:15
Coffee break
Chairpersons: Emanuele Bevacqua, Pauline Rivoire
10:45–10:46
10:46–10:56
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EGU24-3151
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On-site presentation
Kai Kornhuber

High impact events are often compound events with relevance for a wide range of societal sectors: Infrastructure and Urban Resilience, Agricultural Adaptation and Food Security, Public Health and Healthcare Preparedness, Insurance and Financial Risk Management, Energy Systems, Natural Systems, Globally interconnected Networks: Food Networks, Supply chains, transport systems.

 Consequently, compound events and associated physical risks have been prominently acknowledged in recent high-level reports such as the sixth assessment report of the IPCC, fifth US National Climate Assessment, numerous UNDRR briefing notes and the Risk report of the world economic forum among others.

Driven by the need to enhance our physical and statistical understanding of high impact climate events, compound event research has made substantial progress and has emerged as a new inter/trans/multi-disciplinary field of study over the past decade, bridging climate, environmental science as well as statistics and data science. To be fully usable for solving real world problems substantial challenges remain, these include lack of high-resolution data, model biases in tail risks, and impact relevant event definition. This talk will provide an overview of current challenges in accurately projecting and predicting risks from compound events for various societal sectors and points towards potential solutions to address these.

How to cite: Kornhuber, K.: Usable Compound Event Research, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3151, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3151, 2024.

Multivariate events (continuation)
10:56–11:06
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EGU24-11560
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On-site presentation
Nino Krvavica, Marta Marija Bilić, and Igor Ružić

Coastal areas are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to climate change. These regions are exposed to various sources of flooding, such as high sea levels, river discharge and heavy rainfall. Our study focuses on understanding compound flooding from storm surges and river discharge in Croatia. This is the first study on compound floods in this country. For this purpose, we analysed the time series of water levels and discharges from hydrological stations located along ten major coastal rivers. Since there are only a limited number of tide gauges in Croatia, we combined measured data with numerical reanalyses. The sea level data for the entire Adriatic Sea were obtained from the Copernicus Marine Service (Mediterranean Sea Physics Reanalysis) and were then corrected using machine learning and measured data.

Previous studies have shown that neglecting seasonal variations in river discharge and storm surges could lead to a significant underestimation of the expected annual damage from compound floods. Different seasons bring distinct weather and river discharge patterns that influence the probability and severity of compound floods. To address this, our study investigated seasonal correlation and co-occurrence by analysing the monthly maximum values. By examining each season in detail, we uncovered the variations in the compound flood potential index.

This analysis provides a more comprehensive understanding of compound floods in Croatia, which is crucial for risk assessment and risk management. Finally, we mapped the correlation coefficients, the number of co-occurrences and the compound flood potential index along the Croatian coast and organised the results in a GIS database. These maps will improve our ability to systematically select the most vulnerable areas where the risk of compound flooding should be analysed at the local level.

How to cite: Krvavica, N., Bilić, M. M., and Ružić, I.: Compound Flood Potential from Co-occurrence of River Discharge and Storm Surge in Croatia, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11560, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11560, 2024.

11:06–11:16
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EGU24-14796
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ECS
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Virtual presentation
Mohammad Fereshtehpour, Mohammad Reza Najafi, and Mercè Casas-Prat

Coastal regions face escalating threats under climate change, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of compound flooding dynamics. This study aims to investigate the interplay between precipitation, wind waves, and meteorologically-driven storm surge, assessing their joint behavior leading to compound coastal flood risks in the Pacific Northwest. We examined two approaches to capture all possible drivers leading to compound events, which may not necessarily result from the extreme conditions of individual marginal variables. First, we used a conditional approach and assessed the block maxima (BM) of each variable in conjunction with the corresponding values of the other variables. Second, a peak-over-threshold (POT) investigation was conducted to generate datasets where all variables exceed their 95th percentiles. To calculate the joint return period of coastal flooding drivers, we used the most appropriate marginal distributions commonly used in coastal engineering, including the Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) for the POT-based approach and the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution for the BM. Subsequently, we computed the joint probability distribution by fitting the best-suited copula to the datasets to capture the interdependencies between the drivers. Moreover, as meteorological drivers may change under global warming, we extended our analysis to consider future projections of surge, waves, and precipitation. This enabled us to examine changes in the aforementioned dependencies and return periods. Sub-daily time series of surge and wave heights were obtained from the Canadian Coastal Climate Risk Information System (CCCRIS) (https://cccris.ca/), which provides high-resolution (~250 m along coastlines) simulations driven by ERA5 reanalysis and future projections until 2100 under the RCP8.5 emission scenario driven by four different combinations of global and regional models, namely, CanESM2.CanRCM4, CanESM2.CRCM5-QUAM, MPI-ESM-MR.CRCM5-QUAM, and GFDL-ESM2M.WRF. For each grid point, the corresponding precipitation data is obtained from the nearest grid point of the respective climate models. We assessed the degree to which each driver contributed to the overall change in the joint return period of concurring extremes in coastal flooding. We also conducted an analysis to quantify the respective contributions of each driver’s projection and their dependence structure to the uncertainty in changes of return periods. This study leveraged high-resolution data that encapsulated the regional dynamic responses, which is pivotal for precisely evaluating climatic hazards and developing efficient adaptation schemes, thereby ensuring a more informed decision-making process for coastal management and engineering applications.

How to cite: Fereshtehpour, M., Najafi, M. R., and Casas-Prat, M.: Compound Coastal Flooding Drivers in the Pacific Northwest: Understanding Precipitation-Surge-Wave Interactions and Projected Changes, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14796, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14796, 2024.

11:16–11:26
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EGU24-5030
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ECS
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Highlight
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On-site presentation
Tim Hermans, Julius Busecke, Thomas Wahl, Víctor Malagón-Santos, Michael Tadesse, Robert Jane, and Roderik van de Wal

When different flooding drivers co-occur, they can cause compound floods. Despite the potential impact of compound flooding, few studies have projected how the joint probability of flooding drivers may change. Furthermore, existing projections are based on only 5 to 6 climate model simulations because flooding drivers such as storm surges and river run-off need to be simulated offline using computationally expensive hydrodynamic and hydrological models. Here, we use a large ensemble of simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 to project changes in the joint probability of extreme storm surges and precipitation in Europe under a medium and high emissions scenario. To compute storm surges for so many simulations, we apply a statistical storm surge model trained with tide gauge observations and atmospheric forcing from the ERA5 reanalysis. We find that the joint probability of extreme storm surges and precipitation will increase in the northwest and decrease in most of the southwest of Europe. On average, the absolute magnitude of these changes is 36% to 49% by 2080, depending on the scenario. We show that due to internal climate variability and inter-model differences, projections based on small climate model ensembles can differ qualitatively depending on the specific simulations included. Therefore, our results provide a more robust and less uncertain representation of changes in the potential for compound flooding in Europe than previous projections.

How to cite: Hermans, T., Busecke, J., Wahl, T., Malagón-Santos, V., Tadesse, M., Jane, R., and van de Wal, R.: Projecting Changes in the Drivers of Compound Flooding in Europe Using CMIP6 Models, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5030, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5030, 2024.

11:26–11:36
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EGU24-2962
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Highlight
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Virtual presentation
Delei Li, Jakob Zscheischler, Yang Chen, Baoshu Yin, Jianlong Feng, Mandy Freund, Jifeng Qi, Yuchao Zhu, and Emanuele Bevacqua

Compound wind and precipitation extremes (CWPEs) can severely impact natural and socioeconomic systems. However, our understanding of CWPE future changes, drivers, and uncertainties under a warmer climate is limited. Here, analyzing the event both on oceans and landmasses via state-of-the-art climate model simulations, we reveal a poleward shift of CWPE occurrences by the late 21st century, with notable increases at latitudes exceeding 50° in both hemispheres and decreases in the subtropics around 25°. CWPE intensification occurs across approximately 90% of global landmasses, especially under a high-emission scenario. Most changes in CWPE frequency and intensity (about 70% and 80%, respectively) stem from changes in precipitation extremes. We further identify large uncertainties in CWPE changes, which can be understood at the regional level by considering climate model differences in trends of CWPE drivers. These results provide insights into understanding CWPE changes under a warmer climate, aiding robust regional adaptation strategy development.

How to cite: Li, D., Zscheischler, J., Chen, Y., Yin, B., Feng, J., Freund, M., Qi, J., Zhu, Y., and Bevacqua, E.: Intensification and Poleward Shift of Compound Wind and Precipitation Extremes in a Warmer Climate, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2962, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2962, 2024.

11:36–11:46
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EGU24-12824
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On-site presentation
Marianne Bügelmayer-Blaschek, Kristofer Hasel, Johann Züger, Robert Monjo, and César Paradinas

Climate change impacts are accelerating and intensifying, as observed over the past years, especially in the past year 2023.The current CMIP6 global climate simulations (GCMs) show higher climate sensitivity resulting in stronger warming and related impacts than previous simulations. Mountain regions are especially vulnerable as the warming climate relates to thawing of permafrost destabilising slopes and the emerging risk of heat and altered precipitation pattern that cause (extreme) flooding. Furthermore, the occurrence of compound events has gained increased attention as those pose substantial threat to the prevailing settlements and infrastructure.

Nevertheless, the available GCM simulations are spatially too coarse to investigate the mentioned extreme events in complex terrain. Therefore, statistical and dynamical downscaling is performed within the ICARIA project (Russo et al., 2023) to better analyse future climate impacts for the mountain regions of Salzburg. For the dynamical downscaling two regional climate models (RCMs), the WRF and COSMO-CLM (CCLM) are used to simulate the future climate conditions for the SSP126, SSP585 at spatial resolution of 2-5 km2 until 2100.

The verification of the two RCMs with respect to CHELSA (Karger et al., 2017) display that the 5km² WRF model simulations overestimate the precipitation intensities, especially in mountainous regions, the same goes for CCLM. With respect to temperature, WRF and CCLM display an underestimation of temperature in higher altitudes (above 600m) and a good representation below.

Additionally, statistical downscaling has also been performed within ICARIA following the FICLIMA method. For this procedure, a set of 59 weather observations were used together with 10 CMIP6 GCMs. ERA5-Land and statistics such as MAE, Bias or Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used for verification purposes of the methodology for each spot and model. Those that passed filters of quality and performance in the representation of past climate produced local downscaled climate projections at daily resolution for each location for the Tier 1 SSPs (1.26, 2.45, 3.70 and 5.85). Both the statistical and dynamical downscaling methods' outputs will serve to compare results and better assess the inherent uncertainties of climate projections.

Since the focus is on extreme events, the prevailing simulations are analysed with respect to the global warming levels (1.5°C, 2°C, 3°C and 4°C) and their related local impacts. To investigate extreme events related to precipitation and wind, as well as their compound occurrence, suitable indicators are investigated, such as precipitation intensity estimates through future IDF curves and wind gust events with return periods of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 years. Further, consecutive events, that have a compound impact on the system, are considered through investigating the region and hazard specific time period before and after the occurrence of the extreme event.

 

Russo, B., de la Cruz Coronas, À., Leone, M., Evans, B., Brito, R. S., Havlik, D., ... & Sfetsos, A. (2023). Improving Climate Resilience of Critical Assets: The ICARIA Project. Sustainability, 15(19), 14090

Karger, D. N., Conrad, O., Böhner, J., Kawohl, T., Kreft, H., Soria-Auza, R. W., ... & Kessler, M. (2017). Climatologies at high resolution for the earth’s land surface areas. Scientific data, 4(1), 1-20.

How to cite: Bügelmayer-Blaschek, M., Hasel, K., Züger, J., Monjo, R., and Paradinas, C.: Local climate change impacts - new insights for mountain regions of Salzburg based on high resolution climate simulations, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12824, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12824, 2024.

11:46–11:56
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EGU24-20600
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ECS
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On-site presentation
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Saurav Bhattarai, Sanjib Sharma, and Rocky Talchabhadel

Climate change is intensifying the occurrence of various extreme weather events across different geographic regions. While most research tends to concentrate on individual extremes, such as heatwaves, droughts, or floods, there’s been minimal exploration into how multiple, diverse extremes interact and compound impact social vulnerability. This study analyzes the overlapping spatial and temporal impact of temperature, precipitation, and hydroclimatic extremes across the US in the context of climate change.

 

Using data and predictions from global and regional climate models for present (including historical) and future emissions scenarios, we compute several indices of different extremes related to heatwaves, floods, and droughts. The aim is to categorize regions, or states or counties, based on their exposure to simultaneous extremes, incorporating social vulnerability and socioeconomic factors. The combination of exposure to multiple hazards and social vulnerability reveals regions in the US that face the highest risks from climate change.

 

Understanding the likelihood of compound climatic extremes occurring in areas with vulnerable populations can significantly aid in planning for adaptation and reducing the risk of disasters. By employing machine learning techniques to predict both multidimensional extremes and social vulnerability, policymakers can tailor evidence-based strategies to enhance community resilience. The methodology and findings provide a framework for evaluating multidimensional climate risks, applicable not just in the US but also in other countries and regions worldwide.



How to cite: Bhattarai, S., Sharma, S., and Talchabhadel, R.: Assessing Multidimensional Climate Extremes and Associated Vulnerabilities Across the United States , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20600, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20600, 2024.

11:56–12:06
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EGU24-14461
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Waqar ul Hassan, Md Saquib Saharwardi, Hari Prasad Dasari, Harikishan Gandham, Ibrahim Hoteit, and Yasser Abualnaja

Compound droughts and heatwaves (CDHWs) exert substantial socio-economic and ecological impacts, with their impacts reach epidemic proportions when CDHWs manifest simultaneously across multiple locations. Recent studies have begun to understand CDHWs, but their spatial compounding effects are not yet explored. This study utilizes weekly precipitation and temperature data to investigate the spatial synchronization of CDHWs and its changes. We define drought and heatwave weeks using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI 3-weekly) and the 90th percentile threshold of weekly temperatures. Our analysis reveals an unprecedented increase in the global land area and the number of regions experiencing concurrent CDHWs, particularly notable post-2000. The frequency of globally synchronized CDHWs (more than 5 regions affected simultaneously) has surged from 3 weeks (1982-1992) to 18 weeks (2012-2022), which is primarily attributed to a simultaneous global rise in temperatures driven by climate change. Analyzing CDHWs from observed data and counterfactual scenarios, where temperature data is detrended, we noted significantly higher likelihood of synchronization in observations due to intensified heatwaves in a warmer world. Notably, certain region pairs exhibit a higher likelihood of CDHW synchronization regardless being geographically distant. Spearman correlation and Granger causality analyses highlight major climatic modes, including El-Nino Southern Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, Western Tropical Indian Ocean, and Mode-2 of global Sea Surface Temperature, influencing changes in the areal extent of CDHWs globally as well as regionally. These insights are useful to predict the CDHWs and to quantify their socio-ecological impacts.

How to cite: ul Hassan, W., Saharwardi, M. S., Prasad Dasari, H., Gandham, H., Hoteit, I., and Abualnaja, Y.: Accelerating Heatwaves Intensify Spatial Synchronization of Compound Drought and Heatwave Events, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14461, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14461, 2024.

12:06–12:16
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EGU24-7651
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On-site presentation
Antonio Segalini, Gabriele Messori, and Alexandre M. Ramos

Simultaneous occurrences of multiple heatwaves or cold spells in remote geographical regions have drawn considerable attention in the literature, due to their potentially far-reaching impacts. These include widespread crop failures, increased mortality, wildfires, power supply disruptions and more. We introduce a flexible toolbox to identify and study such concurrent temperature extremes, with adjustable parameters that different users can tailor to their specific needs and impacts of interest. We then use the toolbox to present a climatological analysis of concurrent heatwaves and cold spells in the global midlatitudes. Specific geographical areas, such as Western Russia, Central Europe, Southwestern Eurasia and Western North America, emerge as hotspots for concurrent temperature extremes. Concurrent heatwaves are becoming more frequent, longer-lasting and more extended in the Northern Hemisphere, while the opposite holds for concurrent cold spells. Concurrent heatwaves in the Southern Hemisphere are comparatively rare. However, their sharp increase in recent decades means that they are becoming an emerging hazard in the Southern midlatitudes. Notably, trends in concurrent temperature extremes are significantly stronger than the corresponding trends in all temperature extremes. This suggests that concurrent heatwaves will be an increasingly important climatic hazard in both absolute and relative terms in a future, warmer, climate.

How to cite: Segalini, A., Messori, G., and Ramos, A. M.: Climatology and Trends in Concurrent Temperature Extremes in the Global Extratropics, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-7651, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-7651, 2024.

Spatially compounding events
12:16–12:26
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EGU24-4229
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Highlight
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On-site presentation
Cheng Qian, Yangbo Ye, Emanuele Bevacqua, and Jakob Zscheischler

Attribution of high-impact weather events to anthropogenic climate change is important for disentangling long-term trends from natural variability and estimating potential future impacts. Up to this point, most attribution studies have focused on univariate drivers, despite the fact that many impacts are related to multiple compounding weather and climate drivers. For instance, co-occurring climate extremes in neighbouring regions can lead to very large combined impacts. Yet, attribution of spatially compounding events with different hazards poses a great challenge. Here, we present a comprehensive framework for compound event attribution to disentangle the effects of natural variability and anthropogenic climate change on the event. Taking the 2020 spatially compounding heavy precipitation and heatwave event in China as a showcase, we find that the respective dynamic and thermodynamic contributions to the intensity of this event are 51% (35–67%) and 39% (18–59%), and anthropogenic climate change has increased the occurrence probability of similar events at least 10-fold. We estimate that compared to the current climate, such events will become 10 times and 14 times more likely until the middle and end of the 21st century, respectively, under a high-emissions scenario. This increase in likelihood can be substantially reduced (to seven times more likely) under a low-emissions scenario. Our study demonstrates the effect of anthropogenic climate change on high-impact compound extreme events and highlights the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

How to cite: Qian, C., Ye, Y., Bevacqua, E., and Zscheischler, J.: Human influences on spatially compounding flooding and heatwave events in China and future increasing risks, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4229, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4229, 2024.

12:26–12:30
Lunch break
Chairpersons: Pauline Rivoire, Wiebke Jäger
14:00–14:01
Spatially compounding events (continuation)
14:01–14:11
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EGU24-13620
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Doug Richardson

Global coffee production is at risk from synchronous crop failures, characterised by widespread reductions in yield occurring in multiple regions at the same time. For other crops, we know that these synchronous failures can be forced by spatially compounding climate anomalies, which in turn may be driven by large-scale climate modes like the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

This talk will discuss the extent to which climate hazards occur and co-occur across the world’s major coffee-growing regions. These climate hazards include temperature and rainfall anomalies and are selected to cover two coffee species and different periods of the crop growing cycle. The talk will show that regional and global risk posed from spatially compounding hazards has increased over recent decades. There is a clear shift in the profile of this risk. Temperature-based hazards are now much more likely to exceed thresholds for optimal growing conditions, rather than being overly cold as observed during the 1980s.

Through multiple lines of evidence we find relationships between spatially compounding hazards and six tropical climate modes such as ENSO and the Madden Julian Oscillation. Individual regions exhibit differing relationships with these modes. ENSO is found to have the strongest links with multiple regions during the same crop cycle, posing implications for ENSO-driven global impacts to supply.

How to cite: Richardson, D.: The risk to global coffee supply from synchronous climate hazards, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13620, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13620, 2024.

14:11–14:21
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EGU24-185
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Highlight
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On-site presentation
Yang Chen

Attribution of compound events informs preparedness for emerging hazards. However, the task remains challenging because of complex space-time interactions amongst extremes, climate models’ deficiency in reproducing dynamics of various scales, and uncertainties in dynamic aspects of climate change. 
During June-July 2020, a historic flood hit the Yangtze River Valley and to its south the hottest summer since 1961 was observed, leading to disproportionate socioeconomic and environmental impacts to southern China. For attributing the recording-breaking spatially compounding event, we conduct a storyline attribution analysis by designing a series of simulation experiments via a weather forecast model, with large-scale dynamics equally constrained and thermodynamics of the climate system modified. We report that given the large-scale dynamic setup, anthropogenic influence has exacerbated the 2020 extreme Mei-yu rainfall by ~6.5% and warmed the southern co-occurring seasonal heat by ~1℃. The framework further details human influence on key elements to the two extremes individually and their coupling in space. If the same compound event unfolds in the 2090s, it is plausible to expect the monsoonal rainfall extremes ~14% wetter and the accompanying South China heat ~2.1°C warmer than observed.
This method opens an avenue for attribution of low-likelihood, dynamically-driven, spatially and temporally compounding events.

How to cite: Chen, Y.: Storyline attribution and projection of the 2020 spatially compounding flood-heat event in southern China, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-185, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-185, 2024.

Temporally compounding and preconditioned events
14:21–14:31
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EGU24-20174
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ECS
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On-site presentation
aamir imran

Globally, climate change is a vital issue which exacerbates many severe consequences and causes the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Extreme climatic events, such as flash flooding, heatwaves, and droughts, pose severe impacts on societies and ecosystems, due to their large spatial coverage and high intensity. These extreme climatic events often occur simultaneously or sequentially as so-called compound events (CEs), causing high economic and societal losses as compared to the losses due to individual climatic extreme events. In the last two decades, Pakistan was ranked among the top ten countries which are most vulnerable to climate change and disasters, such as intense flooding, extreme heat, and droughts, among others. This paper presents case studies of extreme and compounding events in the last two decades with severe devastating impacts on people, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Specifically, two worst-case studies have been focused such as a flood in 2010 followed by a drought and a flood in 2022 followed by the heatwave. The post-disaster analysis shows that major part of the country was severely affected by these two CEs as a result of damaging the standing crops, destroying land, and causing displacement of millions of people along with losses and damages in fatalities and monetary terms. Therefore, this study is very vital for decision-making authorities to perceive the expected risk for human life, environment, and infrastructure in the future. So that pre and post-disaster mitigation policies and strategies could be formulated at local and national levels. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for CE adaptation in Pakistan. Key recommendations are provided to mitigate the impacts of future CEs.

How to cite: imran, A.: Extreme and compounding events in Pakistan, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20174, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20174, 2024.

14:31–14:41
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EGU24-12906
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ECS
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Highlight
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On-site presentation
Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Urs Beyerle, Magdalena Mittermeier, Robert Vautard, and Erich M. Fischer

We investigate the most extreme but physically plausible heat-loaded European summers in current and near future climate conditions using ensemble boosting. With this approach, we identify the most extreme summers in an initial-condition large ensemble with the model CESM2 and boost them, creating a large ensemble of re-initialized simulations with slightly perturbed atmospheric initial conditions. This allows us to efficiently generate storylines for summers that are even more extreme than the original simulations, either due to a higher number of days or grid cells exceeding extreme heat thresholds, or original heatwave clusters exceeding such thresholds by larger margins.

We compare these storylines of summer heat clusters to the most extreme European summers in the observational record, and determine the necessary and exacerbating mechanisms behind these clusters of extreme heat. We quantify how factors such as the intensity and persistence of atmospheric patterns as well as sea surface temperatures and terrestrial water budgets contribute to the most extreme simulated summers. Furthermore, we disentangle the effects of extreme early heat in May-June acting as a preconditioning factor in driving more extreme conditions during the rest of the summer, due to it causing more heat-prone conditions such as warmer oceanic basins and dryer soils, versus the effects of large-scale preconditioning factors that may lead to more persistent and intense heat through the summer, regardless of if it starts early in the season or not.

Ensemble boosting is a computationally efficient approach that allows us to sample extreme rare events, now over time scales of several months, while preserving physical consistency both in time, space and across variables. This is an ideal setup for disentangling contributions from different driving factors, and the generated boosting storylines can be used in impact studies that require physical consistency, a prolonged simulation time, and successive or compounding hazard exposure.

How to cite: Suarez-Gutierrez, L., Beyerle, U., Mittermeier, M., Vautard, R., and Fischer, E. M.: Summers full of extreme heat: using ensemble boosting storylines to quantify the drivers of heatwave clusters, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12906, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12906, 2024.

14:41–14:51
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EGU24-5210
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Julia Miller, Michaela Macakova, Danielle Touma, and Manuela Brunner

Recent wildfire seasons broke records in terms of severity and damage in different regions of the world, e.g. in California in 2021 and in Southern Europe in 2022. The  probability of such severe and large wildfires is enhanced by compounding meteorological conditions of hot, dry and windy weather, which lead to dry fuels supporting the spread of fires. Drivers of low-frequency but high-impact fire events operate on different spatio-temporal scales and are difficult to identify with classical regression methods. Here, we use causal inference methods to describe the relationships between different variables driving fires and quantify their effect on the occurrence of fire events. We examine hydro-meteorological and land-surface drivers of wildfires in different European climate regions by leveraging ESAs’ FireCCI burnt area product together with CERRA reanalysis data from 2002 to 2022. Our results show region-specific patterns of the different variables prior to the wildfire events, which allow us to identify different wildfire pre-condition types. Highlighting the spatial variability of different wildfire drivers in various climate regions of Europe provides valuable insights for the development of targeted fire prevention measures and management. 

How to cite: Miller, J., Macakova, M., Touma, D., and Brunner, M.: Compounding preconditions leading to wildfires differ across European climate regions, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5210, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5210, 2024.

14:51–15:01
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EGU24-4582
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On-site presentation
Hao Wang, Shanshan Wang, Xinya Shu, Yongli He, and Jianping Huang

This study focuses on a new compounding concern, the sudden turn from drought to flood (STDF), that is becoming increasingly prominent. Droughts usually end due to increased precipitation, but if excessive rainfall occurs, it can lead to secondary impacts on already barren land, increasing the likelihood of landslides and making farmland flooding significantly costlier than it would have been if only flooding had occurred. Therefore, we must pay more attention to compound disasters that increase the vulnerability of populations and ecosystems. Most studies on rapid drought-to-flood transitions have analyzed individual cases, whereas few have studied the STDF characteristics in China or even globally or the long-term changes in the STDF trend. In this study, we selected an STDF screening method that is accurate on a daily scale.

In this study we calculated the SPEI on a 1-month scale, sliding a 30-day window in order to obtain the SPEI values for each day. Second, we used a relative threshold rather than an absolute threshold to define a flood in consideration of regional precipitation differences. A definition of STDF as follows:

,where to is the drought start time, td is the drought end time, and tp is the time when flooding starts. Here, a drought is said to have occurred when the SPEI ≤-0.5 for more than 40 consecutive days. Our reference method considers drought duration to be more than 20 days, which is based on the persistence of the drought. And the main reason for our choice of 40 days is mainly to exclude the effect of flash droughts, although that type of event proved not to have a significant impact on our results in the subsequent discussion. PREt represents the t-d precipitation (for example, t=3, PRE3 is the 3d cumulative precipitation), when PREt is greater than the 99.5th (for PRE3)/99.3th (for PRE5)/98.7th (for PRE10) percentile precipitation for each reference period (1961-2020) as the flood threshold. (Based on the natural disasters released by the Emergency Management Department and the China’s Yearbook of Meteorological Disasters , 234 floods events were obtained for the period of 2010-2020, and so a threshold of 99.5th, 99.3th, and 98.7th percentile (corresponding to 3d/5d/10d continuous precipitation) was determined for their ranking in the rainfall series from 1961 to 2020.)

The results show that STDFs have been increasing more frequently in China at a rate of average 2.8 events per decade. The most significant increases occurred in May and June, resulting in an advance of one month for the STDF peak. The STDF hotspots are concentrated in north and northeast China and YRD. Nearly 35% of droughts in northern and northeast China have been immediately followed by a flood rather than a gradual drought mitigation or a drought alone. STDFs have become more prevalent in northern China as a result of increased flood frequency and precipitation volatility, while in southern China, the increase in STDF frequency is primarily due to an increase in drought frequency.

How to cite: Wang, H., Wang, S., Shu, X., He, Y., and Huang, J.: Increasing occurrence of sudden turns from drought to flood over China, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4582, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4582, 2024.

15:01–15:11
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EGU24-842
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Hui-Min Wang and Xiaogang He

Extreme droughts and pluvials are recurrent natural hazards that often lead to disastrous socio-economic impacts. These hydroclimatic extremes are generally characterized by large-scale spatial-temporal patterns spanning thousands of kilometres with time-evolving features of expansion or shrinkage. The spatial-temporal dynamics of these hydroclimatic extremes can pose compound impacts across multiple locations. Understanding the propagation behaviour, including movement and propagation, is crucial for disaster response and mitigation. The spatial propagation dynamics of droughts/pluvials are inherently complex as they are often associated with and modulated by natural climate variability, such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and atmospheric dynamics like Rossby waves. However, the specific influences of these drivers on the spatial propagation pathways of droughts and pluvials remain elusive. Here, we conduct a multi-layer complex network-based analysis to explore the interactions between drought/pluvial propagation pathways and potential modulating mechanisms with a focus on the conterminous United States. We first identify extreme drought and pluvial occurrences using self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI) and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) during 1948–2016. We then apply event coincidence analysis (ECA) for all location pairs to construct fully-connected drought and pluvial complex networks, based on which we identify the spatial-temporal propagation pathways through community analysis. Subsequently, partial event coincidence analysis is carried out to elucidate the direct links from potential climate modulators (e.g., ENSO, NAO, and Rossby waves) to extreme event propagation. Our results provide insights into how climate variability and large-scale circulation patterns affect the spatial propagation of droughts and pluvials, offering valuable information for pre-emptive actions to mitigate remotely synchronized extreme events.

How to cite: Wang, H.-M. and He, X.: Lagged Synchronizations of Hydroclimatic Extremes and Their Propagation Dynamics Revealed by Complex Event Coincidence Networks, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-842, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-842, 2024.

15:11–15:21
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EGU24-8594
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ECS
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On-site presentation
Niklas Luther, Arthur Hrast Essenfelder, Andrej Ceglar, Andrea Toreti, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Elena Xoplaki

Many studies have shown that compounding extreme events are likely to exacerbate socio-economic risks compared to single extremes. Despite this important fact, studies focussing on the connectivity of extreme events and their associated impacts frequently have some shortcomings. First, extreme events such as droughts and heat waves are often predefined through thresholds, restricting the class of meteorological events leading to the observed impacts. The choice of threshold for defining these extreme events is also often of meteorological and/or statistical nature and thus potentially unsuitable for the holistic identification of the associated impacts. Furthermore, impacts can arise from combinations of non-extreme events that might fall short of the threshold-based identification, thereby limiting the ability to account for key dynamics that determine the risk associated with compound events. Our study aims to overcome those shortcomings by linking climate events with their observed impacts in agriculture. We analyse wet and warm late winters followed by dry and hot springs, and the associated agricultural damages in Europe with the aim of reconstructing these compound events based on the observed impact. A first analysis is conducted for winter wheat impacts in France, the largest European winter wheat producer. We identify agro-climatic zones based on multivariate time series clustering and employ a regularized generalized canonical correlation analysis to identify the large-scale drivers of crop variability for these regions. The patterns that emerge from the analysis are characterized by wet and warm conditions in January and February linked to a positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) state, followed by warm and dry conditions in April induced by a tripole with a blocking high over Central Europe. Using imbalanced random forests, we construct objective bounds and define thresholds to identify which temperatures are warm enough or which water balances are low enough to be associated with significant effect on crop yield reduction. Our results indicate that imbalanced random forests can predict these types of events reasonably well at the local scale, and that the derived thresholds are mostly lower than the commonly used thresholds for detecting similar extreme events. The latter illustrates that the combination of non-extreme climate events can indeed be detrimental to agricultural production in Europe, which is also crucial as the analysed types of events are predicted to occur more often in the future as a result of climate change. 

How to cite: Luther, N., Essenfelder, A. H., Ceglar, A., Toreti, A., Vlachopoulos, O., and Xoplaki, E.: Reconstructing compound events from crop variability in Europe, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8594, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8594, 2024.

15:21–15:31
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EGU24-9036
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ECS
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On-site presentation
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Fabiola Banfi, Emanuele Bevacqua, Pauline Rivoire, Sérgio C. Oliveira, Joaquim G. Pinto, Alexandre M. Ramos, and Carlo De Michele

Landslides are impactful and complex natural hazards, causing important damages in vulnerable areas. They can be related to several pre-existing conditions and triggering factors. The former are variables that do not directly cause the event but that increase its likelihood in the presence of a triggering variable. Example of the former are the slope or the aspect, of the latter precipitation, earthquakes, snowmelt, or human disturbances. Among the triggering factors the most important is rainfall. Usually deep-seated movement, characterized by a slip surface deeper than 1.5 m, are related to repeated moderate precipitation episodes while shallow landslides, characterized by a slip surface less deep than 1.5 m, to single and more intense episodes. Landslide detection is usually performed with the use of precipitation thresholds, either process-based or empirical ones. Here we introduce a new methodology to detect landslides based on temporal clustering of precipitation. Temporal clustering is a particular typology of compound event falling inside the category of temporal compounding events and it is defined as the occurrence of multiple events of the same type in close succession. The new method is compared with the use of empirical rainfall threhsolds considering as case study two landslide inventories in the Lisbon region, Portugal. The method shows a better sensitivity with respect to empirical rainfall thresholds and a performance in terms of precision variable dependending on the site. In general, the detection of deep landslides is better than of shallow landslide. The method requires only precipitation data and the selection of a precipitation quantile to identify events and it could help to improve the detection of rainfall-triggered landslides.

How to cite: Banfi, F., Bevacqua, E., Rivoire, P., Oliveira, S. C., Pinto, J. G., Ramos, A. M., and De Michele, C.: Temporal clustering of rainfall for landslides detection, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-9036, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9036, 2024.

15:31–15:41
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EGU24-5420
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ECS
|
On-site presentation
Yixuan Guo and Zuntao Fu

Hot extremes impose severe effects on human health and the ecosystem, especially when high-temperature extremes sequentially occur in both daytime and nighttime within 1 day, known as Compound Hot Extremes (CHEs). Although a number of studies have focused on independent hot extremes, not enough work is devoted to compound ones, not to mention the coupling strength in covariations between the two variables (daytime and nighttime temperature: Tmax and Tmin) over a given region. The instantaneous coupling strength can be derived by Dynamical System (DS) approach from covariations between Tmax and Tmin over a given region, and used to classify CHEs into coupled and decoupled types. Results show that coupled CHEs tend to be more intense with prolonged duration and extensive spatial extent compared with decoupled CHEs. Also, the mechanisms behind these two types of CHEs are largely different. Coupled CHEs are accompanied by a significant intensification and westward extension of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH), and the extremely high-temperature is mainly caused by receiving more solar radiation under the corresponding anticyclone. It is found that barotropic structure, weak jet stream and developing La Niña are conducive to the enhancement and persistence of WNPSH, in favor of the occurrence of long-lasting CHEs. Decoupled CHEs are associated with strong sea-land breeze (SLB), whose diurnal cycle could weaken the persistent large-scale circulation and suppress covariations between Tmax and Tmin. This kind of decoupled hot extremes are attributed to the combined effect of receiving more solar radiation during the day and trapping more long-wave radiation at night, where moisture and cloud cover play an important role.

How to cite: Guo, Y. and Fu, Z.: Regional coupled and decoupled day-night compound hot extremes over the mid-lower reaches of the Yangtze River: characteristics and mechanisms, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5420, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5420, 2024.

15:41–15:45

Posters on site: Fri, 19 Apr, 16:15–18:00 | Hall X5

Display time: Fri, 19 Apr, 14:00–Fri, 19 Apr, 18:00
Chairpersons: Pauline Rivoire, Wiebke Jäger, Zengchao Hao
X5.90
|
EGU24-2743
|
ECS
Yue Zhang and Wen Zhou

This study investigates the coupled variability of temperature and precipitation in eastern China during summer using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to better understand and mitigate simultaneous occurrences of extreme events,such as compound droughts and heat waves. Two dominant modes are identified: the first exhibits a strong warming and drying trend in the region north of the Yangtze River, with the opposite occurring in the south; the second illustrates decadal oscillations in temperature and precipitation, alternating between cool-wet conditions and warm-dry conditions in southern China. The underlying mechanisms for these leading modes are revealed through correlation, composite analysis,and model simulations. The first mode is associated with a negative Pacific-Japan teleconnection in the lower atmosphere and a stationary Rossby wave train across Eurasia in the upper troposphere, which are influenced by global warming and sea surface temperature anomalies in the western North Atlantic. The second mode is linked to alternating active periods of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The NAO exerts a significant influence on the summer climate in eastern China during its active phases, while the PDO shows an opposite effect when the NAO is less active. These findings provide valuable implications for long-term planning and adaptation strategies to better cope with compound extreme events in eastern China.

How to cite: Zhang, Y. and Zhou, W.: Long-term coupled variability of temperature and precipitationin eastern China and the underlying mechanisms, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2743, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2743, 2024.

X5.91
|
EGU24-955
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ECS
|
Highlight
|
Judith Claassen, Philip Ward, Wiebke Jäger, Elco Koks, and Marleen de Ruiter

Natural hazards rarely occur in isolation. Frequently, one hazard triggers another, such as an earthquake triggering a tsunami. Likewise, the likelihood of a hazardous event can be amplified by the occurrence of a previous event, such as a drought amplifying the likelihood of a wildfire to occur. However, two extremes can also co-occur as a compound event, leading to even higher combined impacts.

While the field of compound events is advancing rapidly, studies often focus solely on climatic extremes occurring at the same time, excluding non-climate-related hazards or previous triggering and amplifying conditions. Therefore, this research aims to better understand the dependencies between different (pre-conditioning) hazard magnitudes, geographic features, and historic natural hazard footprints accounting for both climatic and geological hazards.

With the use of statistical tools, such as vine copulas, we model the relationships within two different hazard groups. The first group consists of drought, heatwave, and fuel indicators to calculate the risk of wildfires. The second group includes earthquakes, precipitation, and slope data to calculate the risk of landslides. While the first group is considered a compound event, the second group can be classified as a multi-hazard, with different triggering or amplifying relationships. For both groups, we attempt to use the same method to model stochastic events that include a potential hazard footprint for wildfires and landslides on a local to European scale. This model allows users to evaluate potential hazard combinations and footprints in their regions, enabling better preparedness for potential multi-hazard events.

How to cite: Claassen, J., Ward, P., Jäger, W., Koks, E., and de Ruiter, M.: A European Perspective on Joint Probabilities of Multi-Hazards, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-955, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-955, 2024.

X5.92
|
EGU24-987
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ECS
Toward Understanding the Dynamics of Compound Hot and Dry Extremes in India
(withdrawn after no-show)
Iqura Malik and Vimal Mishra
X5.93
|
EGU24-4843
xiao kun and Qin chuan xin Xin

In the context of global climate change, extreme climate events are becoming increasingly frequent.  Extreme climate events constitute major risks to global food security. The simultaneous occurrence of multiple extreme climate events may have a much greater impact than individual extreme events in isolation. Here we quantitatively analyzed the impact of individual and combined extreme climate indices, including cold days (CD), warm degree days (WDD), precipitation, and compound hot – windy - dry (HWD), on the yields of three major crops (winter wheat, soybeans, and maize) globally by establishing a linear mixed-effects model. CD, HWD, and WDD are identified as the most significant driving factors causing yield losses in winter wheat, soybeans, and maize, respectively. During the planting to the jointing stage, per 10 days of CD account for a 3.2% reduction in winter wheat yield. During the jointing to heading stage, per 10 h of HWD and per 10 °C day-1 WDD result in a 7.5% reduction in soybean yield and a 2.7% reduction in maize yield, respectively. We quantified "yield shocks" and found that the regions experiencing yield shocks exhibit a similar spatial distribution to extreme climate indices. These extreme climate indices are likely to be the driving factors behind yield shocks for the three crops. Our findings indicate that multiple individual extreme climate factors, as well as compound heat-drought-wind (HDW) indices that have been overlooked in traditional risk assessments, impact the yield of the three major crops globally.

How to cite: kun, X. and Xin, Q. C. X.: Investigate the Effects of Compound Extreme Climate Events on Global  crop Yield from 1982 to 2016, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-4843, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-4843, 2024.

X5.94
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EGU24-3395
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Yan He, Yanxia Zhao, Yihong Duan, Xiaokang Hu, and Peijun Shi

Compound dry and hot extremes are proved to be the most damaging climatic stressor to wheat thereby with grave implications for food security, thus it is critical to systematically reveal their changes under unabated global warming. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the changes in compound dry and hot days (CDHD) occurring within dynamic wheat growing seasons of 2015-2100 over dynamic wheat planting regions worldwide under SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5, including CDHD’s frequency and severity. This study sought to fill the gap in knowledge by identifying the CDHD occurring within dynamic wheat growing seasons, clarifying the correlations between droughts and heats as well as their impacts on CDHD, and revealing the driven mechanism of global warming for the increase of CDHD.

Our results demonstrate a notable increase in CDHD’s frequency and severity worldwide under all SSPs, such increase is sharper over southern Asia in winter wheat growing season, and southern Canada, northern America, Ukraine, Turkey and northern Kazakhstan in spring wheat growing season. As the top 10 wheat producer, India and America will suffer much more detrimental CDHD in their wheat growing season. Adopting a low forcing pathway will mitigate CDHD risks in up to 93.3% of wheat areas. Positive dependence between droughts and heats in wheat growing season is found over more than 74.2% of wheat areas, which will effectively promote the frequency and severity of CDHD. Global warming will dominate the increase of CDHD directly by increasing hot days and indirectly by enhancing potential evapotranspiration thereby aggravating droughts. This study helps to optimize adaptation strategies for mitigating CDHD risks on wheat production, and provides new insights and analysis paradigm for investigating future variations in compound extremes occurring within dynamic crops growing seasons.

How to cite: He, Y., Zhao, Y., Duan, Y., Hu, X., and Shi, P.: Global Warming Determines Future Increase in Compound Dry and Hot Days within Wheat Growing Seasons Worldwide, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3395, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3395, 2024.

X5.95
|
EGU24-3689
|
ECS
Yuheng Yang, Xixi Lu, and Xue Xiao

Droughts and floods, as individual hazards, pose significant challenges, but their consecutive occurrence can trigger catastrophic cascades of disasters. Therefore, it is crucial to understand these extreme events, known as drought-pluvial (DPAT) and pluvial-drought abrupt transitions (PDAT), to mitigate their risks and potential impacts effectively. Our study utilizes historical records spanning from 1940 to 2022 to identify DPAT and PDAT events, investigating their frequencies, durations, intensities, and underlying causes. Additionally, we analyzed the frequency, duration, and intensity of these events under projected future scenarios. Globally, there has been an increasing trend in the frequency of DPAT and PDAT events, with significant upticks observed in Eastern North America, South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia. In the 2010s, these disasters impacted over 100 million people, predominantly in less economically developed countries. Our findings enhance the current understanding of DPAT and PDAT, thereby contributing to the development of more effective mitigation and adaptation strategies against their impacts.

How to cite: Yang, Y., Lu, X., and Xiao, X.: Abrupt transitions between drought and pluvial events becoming more widespread and intense, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-3689, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3689, 2024.

X5.96
|
EGU24-4940
|
ECS
On the possibility of the 2022-like spatio-temporally compounding event across the Yangtze River Valley
(withdrawn)
Zhen Liao, Ning An, Yang Chen*, and Panmao Zhai
X5.97
|
EGU24-8078
|
ECS
Diljit Dutta, Venkata Vemavarapu Srinivas, and Govindasamy Bala

The Indian coastline, flanked by the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, is prone to the impact of intense low-pressure systems, specifically tropical cyclones and monsoon depressions and lows, which are accompanied by extreme rainfall and storm surges. The vulnerability of the Indian coastline to compound flooding, characterized by concurrent occurrence of extreme rainfall with extreme storm surge (SS-RF) or extreme rainfall with extreme sea level (SL-RF), poses a significant challenge in the face of changing climatic conditions. Analysing the past changes in the characteristics of compound flood events is essential to understanding the changing flood risks associated with concurrent extremes along the Indian coastline. This study utilises hourly sea level data from 8 tide gauge stations operated by Survey of India and daily rainfall data at those stations prepared from 0.25° gridded rainfall product of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The skew surge time series corresponding to the stations are prepared by harmonic analysis of sea level data, and daily maxima of the time series which represent storm surge are analyzed. The concurrent extremes are identified as events where extremes of rainfall, sea level, and skew surge exceeded their respective 95th percentile thresholds concurrently. Our findings reveal distinct seasonal patterns, with higher occurrences of extreme sea level-rainfall (SL-RF) and extreme storm surge-rainfall (SS-RF) events during the summer monsoon (June to September) and post-monsoon (October to December) seasons along the east coast. Conversely, along the west coast, there are negligible SL-RF events throughout the year and the SS-RF events are clustered in the summer monsoon season only. The variability in frequency and intensity of concurrent extremes is higher in the post-monsoon than in the summer monsoon season along the east coast. The interannual variability of compound extremes on the east coast is primarily influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During El Niño conditions, a decreasing trend in the frequency and intensity of concurrent extremes is observed, while La Niña conditions contribute to an increasing trend. ENSO impact also extends to the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones during the post-monsoon season, also contributing to the interannual variability of concurrent extremes. The findings underscore the complex dynamics of the compound flood risk along the Indian coastline and provide valuable insights for assessing and managing flood risk under changing climate.

Figure 1: The number of compound extremes witnessed at typical locations along the east-coast of India during (a) the summer monsoon (JJAS) and (b) post-monsoon (OND) seasons. The El Nino and La Nina composite of the frequency of compound extremes are plotted for JJAS in (c), (d) and for OND in (e), (f).

How to cite: Dutta, D., Srinivas, V. V., and Bala, G.: Characteristics of compound flooding along the Indian coastline: Seasonal and interannual variability, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8078, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8078, 2024.

X5.98
|
EGU24-5617
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ECS
Björn Riebandt, Moritz Adam, Elisa Ziegler, and Kira Rehfeld

The increasing frequency and severity of climate extremes pose a multifaceted threat to health, economic stability, and both natural and human-made environments. Potential overlap and accumulation of extremes as compound extremes poses further challenges. Ongoing climate change intensifies these challenges, underscoring the importance of a better understanding of the causes and drivers for compound events. Earth system model projections suggest that more frequent climatic compound extremes affect terrestrial biosphere fluxes, potentially reducing the land’s CO2 storage potential. However, whether models are able to represent such interactions like the priming of the biosphere towards extremes accurately remains to be shown.

Here, we focus on the role of concurrent precipitation and temperature as drivers of biosphere flux extremes and investigate their change in frequency and intensity based on their occurrence in historical simulations, reanalyses, and future projections. We use thresholds to define concurrent extremes and Monte Carlo randomization to constrain uncertainties. Further, we examine the association of climatic compound events with anomalies in biosphere carbon fluxes to ascertain their mutual relation, aiming to establish how these climatic compound events contribute to preconditioning extremes in the biosphere. Given this assessment of the occurrence change of climatic compound events and their connection to extremes in biosphere carbon fluxes, we infer how climatic compound events may precondition the biosphere for extremes. Lagged overlaps show significant seasonality and spatial heterogeneity in preconditioning. Comparing reanalyses and historical simulations in a model of the terrestrial carbon cycle and a comprehensive Earth System Model, we examine how well primed biosphere extremes agree in different data sources. Leveraging these findings, we evaluate if model projections show signs of stronger climatic priming of the biosphere in the next century.

How to cite: Riebandt, B., Adam, M., Ziegler, E., and Rehfeld, K.: Preconditioned biosphere flux extremes in terrestrial carbon cycle models and reanalyses in the recent past, present, and future, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5617, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5617, 2024.

X5.99
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EGU24-9167
|
ECS
Parisa Hosseinzadehtalaei, Piet Termonia, and Hossein Tabari

Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of compound hot-dry events, which can have significant impacts on human life, economic systems, and agriculture. The extent of this impact depends on the socioeconomic pathway we adopt in the future. While sustainable development aspires to reconcile economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity, thereby ensuring a more sustainable future for all, fossil-fueled development may drive economic growth at the expense of exacerbating climate change, pollution, and resource depletion. This study employs a CMIP6 multi-model ensemble to scrutinize the global-scale potential for mitigating climate change impacts on compound hot-dry events under sustainable development versus fossil-fueled development. These events are quantified by analyzing the joint distribution probability between temperature and soil moisture extremes through bivariate copula functions. The results show that although the likelihood of compound hot-dry events is expected to increase under both scenarios, the increase under fossil-fueled development is anticipated to be twice larger than that under sustainable development. The results show that although the likelihood of compound hot-dry events is expected to increase under both scenarios, the increase under fossil-fueled development is anticipated to be twice as large as that under sustainable development. The mitigated impact through sustainable development is not regionally uniform, with the largest mitigation, up to one-third, expected in the Mediterranean region.

How to cite: Hosseinzadehtalaei, P., Termonia, P., and Tabari, H.: Avoided impacts of climate change on compound hot-dry events under sustainable development versus fossil-fueled development, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-9167, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9167, 2024.

X5.100
|
EGU24-9271
Ana Paula Martins do Amaral Cunha

Brazil’s Pantanal wetland is one of the most threatened Brazilian ecosystems from direct anthropogenic pressures and climate change. In this study, the overarching research question is to explore whether compound drought-heat events (CDHEs) have become more recurrent, intense, and widespread over Brazil’s Pantanal wetland in recent decades. For this, two different approaches were proposed and tested using validated long-term time series of monthly precipitation, temperature, and the satellite-based Vegetation Health Index (VHI) to characterize the spatiotemporal pattern of CDHEs over Pantanal. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Temperature Index (STI), and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) from 1981 to 2021 were calculated. The results showed that using both approaches, the frequency of events is higher in the moderate category, which is expected since the criteria are less restrictive. In addition, the highest frequency of CDHE events occurs at the end of the dry season. The results also indicated that CDHE events have been more recurrent and widespread since 2000 in Pantanal. Besides, considering all methods for identifying the CDHEs, the probability density function indicates a shift pattern to warmer and drier conditions in the last 40 years. The Mann-Kendall tests also confirmed the assumption that there is a significantly increasing trend in the compound drought-heat events in the Pantanal. Developing methodologies for monitoring compound climate events is crucial for assessing climate risks in a warming climate. Besides, it is expected that the results contribute to convincing the urgent need for environmental protection strategies and disaster risk reduction plans for the Pantanal.

How to cite: Martins do Amaral Cunha, A. P.: Monitoring compound drought-heat events over Brazil’s Pantanal wetland, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-9271, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-9271, 2024.

X5.101
|
EGU24-6635
Ana Maria Cordova, Pablo Andrade, Diana Pozo, Deniz Bozkurt, and Jorge Arevalo

Austral Chile, characterized by its intricate topography of small islands, channels, and fiords, relies heavily on navigation for local economic activities, security, and societal functions. Wind-related hazards pose a significant safety threat to navigation, with the complex topography exerting a profound influence on local wind patterns. This study undertakes a comprehensive examination of large-scale winds in the region as an initial step toward understanding the intricate dynamics of local wind systems. This study is part of a larger research project that aims to produce a very high-resolution wind forecasting system, based on the downscaling of WRF simulations by using Deep learning techniques (SiVAR-Austral, funded by ANID ID22I10206).

Utilizing 50 years of ERA 5 reanalysis daily wind fields, we employ a self-organizing map (SOM) approach, with four distinct SOMs corresponding to each season, to unveil seasonal wind patterns. Furthermore, a cluster algorithm is applied to establish relationships between these patterns, elucidating the various stages of synoptic conditions associated with different wind patterns. Through an in-depth analysis, we explore the frequencies of these patterns across different decades, providing insights into their temporal evolution.

Our findings reveal the complex interplay between the region's topography and wind patterns, offering a better understanding of the seasonal variations in large-scale winds. The identification of distinct synoptic conditions associated with specific wind patterns enhances our ability to predict and mitigate navigation-related safety threats. Additionally, the temporal evolution of these patterns across decades contributes valuable information for long-term planning and risk assessment. This research lays the foundation for a more robust comprehension of wind dynamics in Austral Chile, with potential applications in enhancing navigation safety protocols and supporting sustainable coastal development.

How to cite: Cordova, A. M., Andrade, P., Pozo, D., Bozkurt, D., and Arevalo, J.: Temporal Analysis of Large-Scale Winds in Austral Chile, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6635, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6635, 2024.

X5.102
|
EGU24-11331
|
ECS
Joséphine Schmutz, Mathieu Vrac, and Bastien François

Compound events (CE) are the combination of climate phenomena which, taken individually, are not necessarily extreme but whose (concurrent or sequential) composition can cause very strong impacts and damages. Hence, the understanding of their potential past and future changes and evolutions are of great importance and, thus, more and more research is being carried out on this issue ([1], [2]). However, these questions are still rarely addressed over France, especially at high spatial resolution, even though they are necessary for the development of adaptation strategies. The present study focuses on historical multivariate compound events (several events occurring at the same time and same location), like hot and dry events or extreme wind and precipitation events, and aims to detect past changes in probability of such events over France. ERA5 reanalyses [3] are then used on the 1950-2022 period.

The first question that arises is: Where and when did these signals emerge in France? Are patterns forming? This issue is addressed through the analysis of “times” and “periods” of emergence, corresponding to moments when the change in probability of a specific CE is out of its natural variability [4].  The second question that comes up is: “What drives the emergence? What are the contributions of the changes in the marginal distributions and in the dependence structure to the change of compound events probability?” The study tries to answer this question thanks to the copula theory, allowing to decompose these different contributions. Copula functions are used to model bivariate joint probabilities, and are increasingly applied to hydroclimatic variables ([5], [6]).

Depending on the intensity and the type of the compound, the results indicate that (1) maps of time of emergence show clear spatial patterns and (2) that the changes in marginal distributions play a much more significant role than the changes in dependence during the emergence. This work opens perspectives for future projects, such as investigating physical phenomena driving these patterns and more deeply understanding changes in dependence between the different climate variables. Then analyzing climate model ability to reproduce the results would enable the application of the methodology to attribution framework and a better assessment of the risks associated with past and future climate change. 

References
[1] Singh, Harsimrenjit, Mohammad Reza Najafi, and Alex J. Cannon. "Characterizing non-stationary compound extreme events in a changing climate based on large-ensemble climate simulations." Climate Dynamics 56 (2021): 1389-1405.
[2] Ridder, N. N., et al. "Increased occurrence of high impact compound events under climate change." Npj Climate and Atmospheric Science 5.1 (2022): 3.
[3] Hersbach, Hans, et al. "The ERA5 global reanalysis." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 146.730 (2020): 1999-2049.
[4] François, Bastien, and Mathieu Vrac. "Time of emergence of compound events: contribution of univariate and dependence properties." Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 23.1 (2023): 21-44.
[5] Zscheischler, Jakob, and Sonia I. Seneviratne. "Dependence of drivers affects risks associated with compound events." Science advances 3.6 (2017): e1700263.
[6] Tootoonchi, Faranak, et al. "Copulas for hydroclimatic analysis: A practice‐oriented overview." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water 9.2 (2022): e1579.

How to cite: Schmutz, J., Vrac, M., and François, B.: Time and period of emergence of compound events in France, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11331, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11331, 2024.

X5.103
|
EGU24-12712
|
ECS
Wenqian Yang

Changes in wind speed and temperature significantly co-alter soil erosion climatic erosivity. However, knowledge on compound climatic elements of soil erosion to climate change is limited. Here, we quantify long-term climatic erosivity based on the wind erosion climatic erovisity and freeze-thaw climatic index, and analyze the contributions of single and compound factors using the slope change ratio of accumulative quantity methods. Our results show frequency of compound events is gradually decreasing as a result of climate change. Compound climatic erosivity exhibits large spatial variability and decreases with the wind erosion climatic erosivity and freeze-thaw climatic index. Moreover, a negative temporal trend of compound climatic erosivity is found in 61.28% of the study area from 1981 to 2020, which is largely attributed to declining wind speed. One unanticipated finding was that the frequency of compound erosion has shown a decreasing trend at some sites, but the intensity has shown an increasing trend. A possible explanation for this might be the extreme wind speeds and temperatures. Our findings highlight compounding effects of climatic conditions have a more severe impact on soil erosion.

How to cite: Yang, W.: Compound variation in freeze-thaw index and wind climatic erosivity in the agro-pastoral ecotone in northern China , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-12712, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-12712, 2024.

X5.104
|
EGU24-14358
|
ECS
Natalia Castillo, Marco Gaetani, and Mario Martina

The compound occurrence of heatwaves and droughts (COHWD) may result in disastrous impacts and losses across various socioeconomic sectors. Therefore, it is important to understand and predict these phenomena to support decision makers and stakeholders in implementing preparedness and adaptation measures. However, questions concerning the underlying physics that drive and potentially exacerbate these extremes in the future still remain open. 

This study focuses on identifying COHWD and their characteristics during the lasts 62 summers through the analysis of atmospheric variables from the ERA5, GPCC and CRU datasets in the northern hemisphere (NH). Three regions, as categorized in the latest IPCC report, are analyzed: Western & Central Europe (WCE), the Mediterranean (MED) and Eastern Asia (EAS). These regions are selected because they account for the main breadbaskets in the NH.

Results show that WCE and MED have witnessed an increase in the area affected by COHWD over . In contrast, EAS does not exhibit a clear trend over the past six decades.  Moreover, by analyzing the variability of large atmospheric circulation patterns and climate oscillations, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, the dynamical drivers of COHWDs are identified. This research aims at providing new insights into the dynamical mechanisms driving COHWDs, to improve the identification, understanding, prediction and management of such events in the future. 

How to cite: Castillo, N., Gaetani, M., and Martina, M.: Compound occurrence of heat waves and drought in the Northern Hemisphere, atmospheric circulation patterns and impacts., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14358, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14358, 2024.

X5.105
|
EGU24-15681
Lidia Gaslikova, Helge Bormann, Jenny Kebschull, Ralf Weisse, and Elke Meyer

Many coastal low-lying areas prone to coastal floods are protected by defense constructions. This often entails the establishing of artificial drainage systems to keep the hinterlands from flooding during heavy rain events. The coincidence of storm tide and heavy precipitation events may considerably limit the technical drainage capacity and lead to flooding. This situation can be exacerbated in the future due to changing conditions of both single drivers as well and their combinations. To assess the risks of inland flooding, a model based approach, combining the results from regional climate models with hydrological model for hinterlands and hydrodynamic model for coastal areas is established and applied. As a focus area, the water board Emden (Germany) and the gauge Knock are selected, which is a low-lying artificially drained area between the Ems river and the North Sea. For historical events, the main drivers leading to diminished drainage capacity and system overload were moderate storm series combined with the large-scale heavy precipitations. Whereas extreme storm tides or heavy precipitations alone posed no significant challenge for the system. The combinations of future emission scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5) and regionalized climate models (MPI-ESM and HadGEM2) together with local sea level rise projections are used to estimate the system overload and flood risk under the climate change conditions. For control period, the main cause of moderate system overload appears to be heavy precipitations rather than storm tides. For future projections, the importance and intensity of compound events will increase, reflecting changes in mean sea level and thus storm tides as well as intensification of heavy rain events.

How to cite: Gaslikova, L., Bormann, H., Kebschull, J., Weisse, R., and Meyer, E.: Climate change impact on inland flood risks due to compound storm tide and precipitation events for managed low-lying coastal areas., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15681, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15681, 2024.

X5.106
|
EGU24-16044
|
ECS
Jung-A Yang

Various countries around the world have been experiencing coastal disasters caused by coastal flooding, and Korean Peninsula is no exception. Most coastal flooding occurs during extreme sea level conditions which is comprised astronomical tides, nontidal residuals, wind wave, and mean sea level. To respond to coastal flooding disasters, it is important to understand the characteristics of extreme sea levels. Therefore, this study analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of extreme sea levels along the Korean Peninsula and evaluated the effects of the astronomical tides and nontidal residuals represented by storm surges on extreme sea levels among the components constituting extreme sea levels. At this time, when analyzing the impact of the storm surge, it was evaluated whether the storm surge was caused by tropical cyclones or extra-tropical cyclones, and what storm condition were more dangerous in the Korean Peninsula. This study collected observed tidal data from 1979 to 2021 at 48 tide stations which are installed along the coast of the KP and performed a hormonic analysis to distinguish them into astronomical and storm surge components. In this case, storm surges occurring in summer and winter were considered to be caused by tropical cyclones and continental cyclones, respectively. In addition, to more accurately analyze the regional characteristics, the Korea’s coast was divided in the three zones: the East Sea, the West Sea, and the South Sea. As a result of the study, it was found that the extreme sea levels along the Korean Peninsula showed regional differences, and in the case of the south coast, storm surges generated by tropical cyclones were the main drive of extreme sea levels.

How to cite: Yang, J.-A.: Spatio-temporal analysis of extreme sea level in the Korean Peninsula, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-16044, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-16044, 2024.

X5.107
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EGU24-17562
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ECS
Josephin Kroll, Ruth Stephan, Harald Rieder, Jens Hesselbjerg Christensen, and Rene Orth

The joint occurrence of droughts and heat waves is expected to change with advancing climate change. While drought and heat themselves can already have major impacts on ecosystems and society, their compound occurrence can lead to amplified effects. Previous studies have analyzed changes in the occurrences frequency of compound drought-heat events and found increasing trends in some regions. In this study, we revisit these occurrence trends and additionally analyze the mechanisms that couple drought and heat as well as their changes in space and time. Considering drought as deficit of soil moisture and heat as an extreme temperature, evapotranspiration (ET) is the main physical process connecting both extremes. Therefore, we focus particularly on ET anomalies, because higher-than-normal ET during drought-heat events indicates that heat is inducing drought (heat → drought) as high temperatures lead to high vapor pressure deficit which increases ET that in turn depletes soil moisture. Vice versa, lower-than-normal ET suggests drought is triggering hot temperatures (drought → heat) as low soil moisture limits ET such that more of the incoming radiation is partitioned to sensible heat flux and hence warming the air. To better understand the underlying controls of these ET anomalies, we analyze their drivers by considering anomalies of precipitation, radiation, vapor pressure deficit and Leaf Area Index, which are in turn linked to anomalies in atmospheric circulation. Finally, we compare the relevance of these drivers, and of the drought → heat vs. heat → drought mechanisms in space, and link them with aridity and land cover type. In our analysis, we employ weekly data from the ERA5 reanalysis alongside gridded products derived with machine learning methods which were trained with in-situ observations. We define drought and heat with a percentile based approach filtering the lowest (< 5th percentile) absolute soil moisture values and highest (> 95th percentile) absolute temperatures at each grid cell. Understanding the mechanisms behind compound drought-heat extremes can help improve related forecasts, and to validate and constrain model projections of trends in these events. 

How to cite: Kroll, J., Stephan, R., Rieder, H., Hesselbjerg Christensen, J., and Orth, R.: Drivers of compound drought-heat extremes across recent decades, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17562, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17562, 2024.

X5.108
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EGU24-18239
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ECS
Carlo Destouches, Arona Diedhiou, Sandrine Anquetin, Benoit Hingray, Armand Pierre, Adermis Joseph, and Dominique Boisson

This study investigates the evolution of extreme precipitation over the Greater Antilles and its relationship with large-scale sea surface temperature (SST) during the period 1985-2015. The data used are derived from two satellite datasets, CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation, Funk et al. (2015)) and NOAA (OI V2 Sea Surface Temperature, Huang et al. (2021)), at resolution of 5km and 25km respectively.  Changes in the characteristics of six indices of precipitation extremes (Precipitation total; number of rainy days;  contribution of heavy rainfall, R95p, maximum duration of consecutive rainy and dry days) defined by the WMO ETCCDI (World Meteorological Organization Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices, Peterson et al. (2001)) are described and the influence of four large-scale SST indices (Northern Oscillation Index, NAO; Southern Oscillation Index, SOI; Tropical South Atlantic, TSA; Caribbean Sea Surface Temperature, SST-CAR) is investigated using Spearman's correlation coefficient. The results show that at regional scale, a positive phase of the TSA index contributes to an increase of the rainfall intensity while a positive phase of NAO is significantly associated with a decrease of total precipitation, of daily rainfall intensity, and of heavy rainfall. At country level, in southeastern Cuba and Puerto Rico, the increase in heavy precipitation and rainfall intensity is linked to a positive phase of the SOI, TSA and SST-CAR, while in Jamaica and northern Haiti, they are associated with positive phase of TSA and SST-CAR. Increases in the number of rainy days and the maximum duration of consecutive rainy days over the southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic are significantly associated with positive phase of the Southern Oscillation (SOI) and warming of SST over the east of the Caribbean Sea. The results of this study show that, in the Caribbean, particularly in the Greater Antilles, large-scale SST have had a strong influence on extreme precipitation over the past 30 years.

 

Keywords: Caribbean region; Greater Antilles; Extreme precipitation; Climate variability; Sea surface temperature

How to cite: Destouches, C., Diedhiou, A., Anquetin, S., Hingray, B., Pierre, A., Joseph, A., and Boisson, D.: Changes in extreme precipitation patterns over the Greater Antilles and teleconnection with large-scale sea surface temperature, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18239, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18239, 2024.

X5.109
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EGU24-2346
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ECS
Zhenchen Liu and Wen Zhou

The emergency of global‐scale hydroclimatic extremes (i.e., meteorological droughts, extreme precipitations, heat waves and cold surges) and associated compound events has recently drawn much attention. A global‐scale unified and comprehensive event set with accurate information on spatiotemporal evolutions is necessary for better mechanism understanding and reliable predictions in sequential studies. Accordingly, this manuscript describes the first‐generation global event‐based database of hydroclimatic extremes produced with the newly proposed 3D (longitude–latitude–time) DBSCAN‐based workflow of event detection. The short name of this database is Glo3DHydroClimEventSet(v1.0) , which is obtained from the FigsharePlus webpage ( https://doi.org/10.25452/figshare.plus.23564517 ). The 1951–2022 ERA5‐based multiscale and multi‐threshold daily running datasets of precipitation and near‐surface air temperature are calculated and employed as the input data. A comprehensive event set of hydroclimate extremes is the output of the 3D DBSCAN‐based workflow. From perspectives of spatiotemporal evolutions, this event‐based database is also measured and attached with metric information. For case‐based validation, some recently reported hydroclimatic extremes (e.g., the 2020 summertime flood‐inducing Yangtze River extreme precipitation event) are employed and accurately detected in the Glo3DHydroClimEventSet(v1.0) database. Meanwhile, global‐scale spatiotemporal distributions are preliminarily analysed. For example, global‐scale event counts of extreme heatwaves displayed an increasing tendency since 2005, with a rapid increase after 2010. To sum up, this Glo3DHydroClimEventSet(v1.0) database may facilitate new scientific achievements concerning event‐based hydroclimatic extremes, especially in communities of atmosphere, hydrology, natural hazards and associated socioeconomics. The DOI-based linkage is  https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.8289 .

How to cite: Liu, Z. and Zhou, W.: Glo3DHydroClimEventSet(v1.0) : A global‐scale event set of hydroclimatic extremes detected with the 3D DBSCAN ‐based workflow (1951–2022), EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2346, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2346, 2024.

X5.110
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EGU24-15746
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ECS
Ena Kožul, Iris Odak Plenković, and Ines Muić

The intricate coastline of the Adriatic Sea presents challenges for sailing, especially through narrow island channels in severe weather conditions. To plan construction work, an assessment was requested to determine the most favorable period for conducting maritime activities in two channels in the first half of the year, the Hvar Channel and the Korčula Channel. Motivated by that request, climatological analysis using available measurements of several meteorological parameters was conducted.

Favorable conditions for sailing usually include weak or moderate wind intensity, often generated by island or coastal circulation. To determine the unfavorable conditions for maritime transport several meteorological parameters are examined with emphasis on wind, wave height, and thunderstorms, as these might contribute to the most hazardous sailing conditions in this region. The eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea is exposed to the strong winds blowing during the colder part of the year: the bora (northeast wind) and the jugo (southeast wind). Due to the orientation of the Adriatic Sea and analyzed sea channels, the jugo usually generates larger waves than the bora thus endangering maritime transport. However, navigating in strong bora conditions poses different risks due to its typically turbulent nature and strong intensity.

With these considerations in mind, unfavorable navigation conditions are defined using three criteria: (i) wind strength reaching or exceeding Force 5 (Beaufort scale) and at least a moderate wave height, (ii) wind strength reaching or exceeding Force 8 regardless of the sea state, and (iii) the presence of thunderstorm conditions involving hail, thunder, and showers.

In the analysis, it is concluded that the number of days with unfavorable conditions decreases from January to June, as expected. The most unfavorable conditions are most likely to occur in January, while June proves to be the most suitable month for conducting work with an average of 5.7 days with unfavorable conditions. Throughout all considered months, there should be at least 10 days with favorable conditions. Moreover, in June of any year, the number of days with unfavorable conditions did not exceed 7.

How to cite: Kožul, E., Odak Plenković, I., and Muić, I.: Determining the frequency of unfavorable conditions for sailing in Adriatic Sea channels , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15746, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15746, 2024.

Posters virtual: Fri, 19 Apr, 14:00–15:45 | vHall X5

Display time: Fri, 19 Apr, 08:30–Fri, 19 Apr, 18:00
Chairpersons: Pauline Rivoire, Wiebke Jäger, Zengchao Hao
vX5.17
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EGU24-20589
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ECS
Catharina Elisabeth Graafland, Ana Casanueva, Rodrigo Manzanas, and José Manuel Gutierrez

Probabilistic network models (PNMs) have established themselves as a data-driven modeling and machine learning prediction technique utilized across various disciplines, including climate analysis. Learning algorithms efficiently extract the underlying spatial dependency structure in a graph and a consistent probabilistic model from data (e.g. gridded reanalysis or climate model outputs for particular variables). The graph and probabilistic model together constitute a truly probabilistic backbone of the system underlying the data. The complex dependency structure between the variables in the dataset is encoded using both pairwise and conditional dependencies and can be explored and characterized using network and probabilistic metrics. When applied to climate data, PNMs have been demonstrated to faithfully uncover the various long‐range teleconnections relevant in temperature datasets, in particular those emerging in El Niño periods (Graafland, 2020).

The combination of multiple climate drivers and/or hazards that contribute to societal or environmental risk are the so-called compound weather and climate events. These compound events can be the result of a combination of factors over different dimensions: temporal, spatial, multi-variable, etc. (Zscheischler et al. 2020). In particular, spatially compound events take place when hazards in multiple connected locations cause an aggregated impact. In this work we apply PNMs to extract and characterize most essential spatial dependencies of compound events resulting from concurrent temperature and precipitation hazards, either in the same location or spatially connected, which can be relevant for agriculture. Furthermore, PNMs are used to propagate evidence of different levels of observed and projected global warming to assess the possible evolution of compound events in a changing climate.

References

Graafland, C.E., Gutiérrez, J.M., López, J.M. et al. The probabilistic backbone of data-driven complex networks: an example in climate. Sci Rep 10, 11484 (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67970-y

Zscheischler, J., Martius, O., Westra, S. et al.  (2020). A typology of compound weather and climate events. Nat Rev Earth Environ 1, 333–347, doi: 10.1038/s43017-020-0060-z.

Acknowledgement

This work is part of Project COMPOUND (TED2021-131334A-I00) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. 



How to cite: Graafland, C. E., Casanueva, A., Manzanas, R., and Gutierrez, J. M.: On the use of probabilistic network models to assess spatially compound events in a warmer world, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20589, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20589, 2024.

vX5.18
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EGU24-14371
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ECS
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Hardik Shah and Joy Monteiro

For improving climate projections, there is a need to understand the physical processes governing the variability of dynamically driven variables, like near-surface temperature. Studies have shown that some features like surface drying and anticyclonic upper level conditions are associated with enhanced surface warming. However, the different ways in which surface, radiative and atmospheric variables compound to cause a heatwave, and the relative magnitudes of these variables and their relationship with heatwave intensity has not been well understood. Further, the large scale dynamics governing such conditions, and the effects of slowly varying climate features like ENSO and AO, are unresolved.

Using the ERA5 reanalysis dataset, we are studying the drivers of variability of daily mean 2 meter temperature (T2m) anomaly over the northwest Indian heatwave hotspot region, in the entire premonsoon season (March to June). Our approach is to develop an interaction framework which identifies governing surface and weather regimes active during different months, and quantify how large-scale climate patterns modulate their frequency of occurrence. We are leveraging the decision tree classification framework to identify the dominant weather patterns explaining different quartiles of T2m anomaly, owing to its non-linear modeling capability. 

During March and April, the T2m anomalies are accompanied by a vertically coherent temperature anomaly field, and typically last only for a day or two. The decision tree classification algorithm suggests that anomalous surface warming during this period is preceded by increased shortwave radiation corresponding to subsidence across the tropospheric extent. The decay of such an anomaly is marked by decreased downward shortwave radiation fluxes and increased downward longwave radiation fluxes, indicating the role of ventilation and cloud formation. The direction of sensible flux anomaly also changes between the two phases, directed from the atmosphere to the surface in the warming phase, and from the surface of the atmosphere in the decay phase. During May and June, the warming anomalies last for more than three days, and the sensible heat flux anomalies are directed toward the surface. Although shortwave anomalies peak along with T2m anomalies, there is also an increased convergence of dry static energy in the lower troposphere, between 600–900 hPa, in the region. Geopotential anomalies on the 350 K isentropic surface are anti-correlated with potential vorticity anomaly, establishing the role of Rossby wave packets as the dynamical drivers of temperature variability in this region. 

Thus, we show how an interpretable machine learning algorithm like the decision tree could potentially identify proximal drivers and compounding factors of heatwaves, provide a way to rank them by their importance, and eventually lead to a multiscale framework by incorporating longer term signals such as ENSO. 

How to cite: Shah, H. and Monteiro, J.: Pathways to temperature variability in South Asia, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-14371, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-14371, 2024.