Synoptic conditions responsible for an extreme precipitation event in the Danube river basin

Ponencia presentada en: XXXV Jornadas Científicas de la AME y el XIX Encuentro Hispano Luso de Meteorología celebrado en León, del 5 al 7 de marzo de 2018.Extreme precipitation events in the latest few decades show increasing trend all around the world, including the areas in central Europe where are recorded a few catastrophic extreme hydrological events happened in the last 10 years resulting in human causalities, economic losses and other accompanying disasters. The Danube River Basin is one of the major catchment basin in Europe and the only river in the world specific for that receiving water from 18 countries and flowing through 10 countries. Extreme precipitation events in the area of the Danube River Basin are not homogeneous in the timing and locations. Their intensity and frequency strongly depend on locations and present cyclones responsible for generation of precipitation. The characteristic of the cyclones such as orography, sea-surface temperature and availability of moisture has a huge impact on heavy precipitation in the Danube area. In this work, we show the synoptic conditions that end in the major extreme precipitation event over the Danube River Basin

The Mediterranean Moisture Contribution to Climatological and Extreme Monthly Continental Precipitation

Moisture transport from its sources to surrounding continents is one of the most relevant topics in hydrology, and its role in extreme events is crucial for understanding several processes such as intense precipitation and flooding. In this study, we considered the Mediterranean Sea as the main water source and estimated its contribution to the monthly climatological and extreme precipitation events over the surrounding continental areas. To assess the effect of the Mediterranean Sea on precipitation, we used the Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation (MSWEP) database to characterize precipitation. The Lagrangian dispersion model known as FLEXPART was used to estimate the moisture contribution of this source. This contribution was estimated by tracking particles that leave the Mediterranean basin monthly and then calculating water loss (E − P < 0) over the continental region, which was modelled by FLEXPART. The analysis was conducted using data from 1980 to 2015 with a spatial resolution of 0.25°. The results showed that, in general, the spatial pattern of the Mediterranean source’s contribution to precipitation, unlike climatology, is similar during extreme precipitation years in the regions under study. However, while the Mediterranean Sea is usually not an important source of climatological precipitation for some European regions, it is a significant source during extreme precipitation years

Vínculos entre precipitacións extremas e transporte de humidade

Doctoral activities consist of research on the anomalous moisture transport associated to wet-spells and extreme precipitation events around the World in the last 36 years through a Lagrangian methodology. It is expected that a better understanding of the hydrological cycle of a given region will provide a more appropriate use of the water resources. This is a hot climate research topic with important socio-economical perspectives because changes in the atmospheric circulation may result in changes in the moisture transport between source and sink regions. In addition, the results may contribute to plan hydrological policies in regions more sensible to water resources. This project can be considered as an innovative application of the Lagrangian method used in studies of floods, since several works concerning climate change have pointed out important changes in the structure of extreme weather phenomena in many regions, and these changes may be related to variations in the sources of moisture.La actividad doctoral consiste que se propone se basa en la investigación sobre el transporte anómalo de humedad para eventos de precipitación extrema en el mundo durante los últimos 36 años a través de una metodología lagrangiana. Se espera que una mejor comprensión del ciclo hidrológico en una región determinada proporcione herramientas para un uso más adecuado de los recursos hídricos y la prevención de riesgos. Este es un tema de investigación muy activo en las últimas décadas ya que conlleva asociadas importantes perspectivas socio-económico debido a que los cambios en la circulación atmosférica provocan cambios en el transporte de humedad entre las regiones fuente de la misma y sus sumideros. Además, los resultados pueden contribuir a políticas para la mejora de planes hidrológicos sobre todo en aquellas regiones más sensibles o dependientes a los recursos hídricos. Este proyecto puede ser considerado como una innovadora aplicación del método lagrangiano FLEXPART para estudios de inundaciones, ya que varios trabajos científicos relacionan el cambio climático con cambios importantes en la estructura de los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos en muchas regiones del planeta, y estos cambios pueden estar relacionados con variaciones en las fuentes de humedad.A actividade de doutoramento que se propón baséase na investigación sobre o transporte anómalo de humidade para eventos de precipitación intensas ao redor do mundo durante os últimos 36 anos, a través dun enfoque lagranxiano. Espérase que unha mellor comprensión do ciclo hidrolóxico nunha determinada rexión ofreza ferramentas para unha mellor utilización dos recursos hídricos e prevención de riscos. Este é un tema de investigación moi activa nas últimas décadas e que está tamén asociada co análise en termos socioeconómicas importantes porque os cambios na circulación atmosférica provocan cambios no transporte de humidade entre as rexións de orixe da mesma e os seus sumidoiros. Ademais, os resultados poden contribuír ás políticas para mellorar os plans de xestión da auga especialmente naquelas rexións do planeta máis sensibles ou dependentes aos recursos hídricos. Este proxecto pode ser considerado como unha aplicación innovadora do modelo lagranxeano FLEXPART para estudos de inundacións ou períodos prolongados de precipitacións, xa que varios estudos científicos conectan o cambio climático con cambios significativos na estrutura de eventos climáticos extremos en moitas partes do mundo, e estas modificacións poden estar relacionados con variacións nas fontes de humidade.Erasmus Mundus | Ref. 551984-EM-1-2014-1-ES-ERA MUNDUS-EMA

Contribution of Moisture from Mediterranean Sea to Extreme Precipitation Events over Danube River Basin

In the most recent decades, central Europe and the Danube River Basin area have been affected by an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme daily rainfall, which has resulted in the more frequent occurrence of significant flood events. This study characterised the link between moisture from the Mediterranean Sea and extreme precipitation events, with varying lengths that were recorded over the Danube River basin between 1981 and 2015, and ranked the events with respect to the different time scales. The contribution of the Mediterranean Sea to the detected extreme precipitation events was then estimated using the Lagrangian FLEXPART dispersion model. Experiments were modelled in its forward mode, and particles leaving the Mediterranean Sea were tracked for a period of time determined with respect to the length of the extreme event. The top 100 extreme events in the ranking with durations of 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days were analysed, and it was revealed that most of these events occurred in the winter. For extreme precipitation, positive anomalies of moisture support from the Mediterranean were found to be in the order of 80% or more, but this support reached 100% in summer and spring. The results show that extreme precipitation events with longer durations are more influenced by the extreme Mediterranean anomalous moisture supply than those with shorter lengths. However, it is during shorter events when the Mediterranean Sea contributes higher amounts of moisture compared with its climatological mean values; for longer events, this contribution decreases progressively (but still doubles the climatological moisture contribution from the Mediterranean Sea). Finally, this analysis provides evidence that the optimum time period for accumulated moisture to be modelled by the Lagrangian model is that for which the extreme event is estimated. In future studies, this fine characterisation could assist in modelling moisture contributions from sources in relation to individual extreme events

Tracking the Origin of Moisture over the Danube River Basin Using a Lagrangian Approach

In this study, we investigate the sources of moisture (and moisture for precipitation) over the Danube River Basin (DRB) by means of a Lagrangian approach using the FLEXPART V9.0 particle dispersion model together with ERA-Interim reanalysis data to track changes in atmospheric moisture over 10-day trajectories. This approach computes the budget of evaporation-minus-precipitation by calculating changes in specific humidity along forward and backward trajectories. We considered a time period of 34 years, from 1980 to 2014, which allowed for the identification of climatological sources and moisture transport towards the basin. Results show that the DRB mainly receives moisture from seven different oceanic, maritime, and terrestrial moisture source regions: North Atlantic Ocean, North Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, the Danube River Basin, and Central and Eastern Europe. The contribution of these sources varies by season. During winter (October–March) the main moisture source for the DRB is the Mediterranean Sea, while during summer (April–September) the dominant source of moisture is the DRB itself. Moisture from each source has a different contribution to precipitation in the DRB. Among the sources studied, results show that the moisture from the Mediterranean Sea provides the greatest contribution to precipitation in the basin in both seasons, extending to the whole basin for the winter, but being more confined to the western side during the summer. Moisture from the Caspian and Black Seas contributes to precipitation rather less

The Mediterranean Moisture Contribution to Climatological and Extreme Monthly Continental Precipitation

Moisture transport from its sources to surrounding continents is one of the most relevant topics in hydrology, and its role in extreme events is crucial for understanding several processes such as intense precipitation and flooding. In this study, we considered the Mediterranean Sea as the main water source and estimated its contribution to the monthly climatological and extreme precipitation events over the surrounding continental areas. To assess the effect of the Mediterranean Sea on precipitation, we used the Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation (MSWEP) database to characterize precipitation. The Lagrangian dispersion model known as FLEXPART was used to estimate the moisture contribution of this source. This contribution was estimated by tracking particles that leave the Mediterranean basin monthly and then calculating water loss (E − P < 0) over the continental region, which was modelled by FLEXPART. The analysis was conducted using data from 1980 to 2015 with a spatial resolution of 0.25°. The results showed that, in general, the spatial pattern of the Mediterranean source’s contribution to precipitation, unlike climatology, is similar during extreme precipitation years in the regions under study. However, while the Mediterranean Sea is usually not an important source of climatological precipitation for some European regions, it is a significant source during extreme precipitation years

Wet Spells and Associated Moisture Sources Anomalies across Danube River Basin

The Danube River Basin is the second longest catchment basin in Europe and exhibits intense climatological diversity. In recent decades, the frequency and intensity of daily precipitation extremes have suffered from an increment in many parts of the world, including Central and Eastern Europe. Wet spells are defined by the number of consecutive rainy days with different thresholds. The identification of wet spells and their trends in the rainfall time is very important for many sectors, such as agriculture, ecology, hydrology and water resources. Wet spells can lead to extreme events and cause floods and other disasters. In this study, we will attempt to characterise global precipitation in the context of wet spells and associated precipitation depth of wet spells in the Danube River Basin area using daily precipitation data, as well as analysing different approaches to identifying wet spells. The ten most intense wet spells were detected, and the most intense, which occurred on 23 September 1996, was studied in depth in terms of precipitation and associated anomalies, the synoptic situation and the anomalous transport of moisture using a Lagrangian approach. The existence of a marked west-east dipole in the field of sea level pressure between the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Mediterranean leads to the anomalous moisture transport from the Northern Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, where a higher available amount of moisture existed, and subsequently penetrated within the low positioned over the Danube River Basin. In addition, an Atmospheric River was also responsible for the wet conditions in the Danube River Basin. The combination of all these factors was responsible for the extreme precipitation linked with the wet spell

Lungs: Remote inflammatory target of systemic cadmium administration in rats

Pulmonary inflammation is a biological response to cadmium entering the body via the respiratory route. Systemic administration of this metal revealed the lungs as a significant site of its disposition. In this study, the presence of basic indicators of lung inflammation (leukocyte infiltration and activity of cells recovered from lungs by enzyme digestion) was analyzed in the rat model of acute systemic cadmium intoxication. Intraperitoneal administration of both cadmium doses (0.5 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg) resulted in increased numbers of neutrophils. Signs of spontaneous activation of lung cells including the capacity of reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT), increase in myeloperoxidase (MPO) intracellular content and increase in interleukin-6 (IL-6) production were noted at both cadmium doses. Increased lung cell responsiveness to stimulation in vitro was noted at the higher cadmium dose. The presence of pulmonary inflammatory parameters in rats administered intraperitoneally with cadmium revealed the lungs as remote inflammatory targets of this metal