Climatology of extreme precipitation in Austria for use in the field of hydrology [Klimatologie extremer Niederschläge in Österreich für hydrologische Belange]

Author(s): Georg Skoda
Abstract: The estimation of extreme precipitation has played an important role in the field of climatological research for a long time. Methods available for evaluation of measured precipitation and the model concepts from physics and/or statistics on which they are based have changed fundamentally in the course of the decades. A brief survey will illustrate ways to achieve estimations of extreme precipitation on a spot in a chronological order. In the everyday practice of hydrology engineering the need for design values has increased steadily. Obtaining them requires knowledge of average area and region means of precipitation. A great range of procedures is available. In order to get as close as possible to the true extreme precipitation value of a region, it is vital to know about the detailed structures of the basic precipitation fields. These patterns can be derived from high resolution meteorological models available today. These take into consideration the interaction between the process of precipitation and orography. Numerical experiments pursued under suitable starting conditions and boundary values create climatological results of precipitation fields, which are used to increase the network of observed values. The methodical combination of observation and modelling proves its worth with reprocessing of average precipitation conditions, calculation of design values within catchment areas, and the construction of heavy precipitation maps.
Organisation(s): Department of Meteorology and Geophysics
Journal: Österreichische Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaft
Volume: 53
Pages: 88-102
No. of pages: 15
ISSN: 0945-358X
Publication date: 2001
Peer reviewed: Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012: 1030 Physics, Astronomy
Portal url: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/8820fc7a-482b-4088-8995-d642779d931d

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