11 Jun 2015
11 Jun 2015
A European Flood Database: facilitating comprehensive flood research beyond administrative boundaries
J. Hall1 , B. Arheimer2 , G. T. Aronica3 , A. Bilibashi4 , M. Boháč5 , O. Bonacci6 , M. Borga7 , P. Burlando8 , A. Castellarin9 , G. B. Chirico10 , P. Claps11 , K. Fiala12 , L. Gaál1 , L. Gorbachova13 , A. Gül14 , J. Hannaford15 , A. Kiss1 , T. Kjeldsen16 , S. Kohnová17 , J. J. Koskela18 , N. Macdonald19,20 , M. Mavrova-Guirguinova21 , O. Ledvinka5 , L. Mediero22 , B. Merz23 , R. Merz24 , P. Molnar7 , A. Montanari8 , M. Osuch25 , J. Parajka1 , R. A. P. Perdigão1 , I. Radevski26 , B. Renard27 , M. Rogger1 , J. L. Salinas1 , E. Sauquet27 , M. Šraj28 , J. Szolgay17 , A. Viglione1 , E. Volpi29 , D. Wilson30 , K. Zaimi31 , and G. Blöschl1
J. Hall et al.
J. Hall1 , B. Arheimer2 , G. T. Aronica3 , A. Bilibashi4 , M. Boháč5 , O. Bonacci6 , M. Borga7 , P. Burlando8 , A. Castellarin9 , G. B. Chirico10 , P. Claps11 , K. Fiala12 , L. Gaál1 , L. Gorbachova13 , A. Gül14 , J. Hannaford15 , A. Kiss1 , T. Kjeldsen16 , S. Kohnová17 , J. J. Koskela18 , N. Macdonald19,20 , M. Mavrova-Guirguinova21 , O. Ledvinka5 , L. Mediero22 , B. Merz23 , R. Merz24 , P. Molnar7 , A. Montanari8 , M. Osuch25 , J. Parajka1 , R. A. P. Perdigão1 , I. Radevski26 , B. Renard27 , M. Rogger1 , J. L. Salinas1 , E. Sauquet27 , M. Šraj28 , J. Szolgay17 , A. Viglione1 , E. Volpi29 , D. Wilson30 , K. Zaimi31 , and G. Blöschl1
1 Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria 2 Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Norrköping, Sweden 3 Department of Civil, Informatics, Architectural, Environmental Engineering and Applied Mathematics, University of Messina, Messina, Italy 4 CSE – Control Systems Engineer, Renewable Energy Systems & Technology, Tirana, Albania 5 Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Prague, Czech Republic 6 Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy, Split University, Split, Croatia 7 Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Padua, Italy 8 Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland 9 Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering (DICAM), Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy 10 Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy 11 Department Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy 12 Lower Tisza District Water Directorate, Szeged, Hungary 13 Department Hydrological Research, Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute, Kiev, Ukraine 14 Department of Civil Engineering, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey 15 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK 16 Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK 17 Department of Land and Water Resources Management (Faculty of Civil Engineering), Slovak University of Technology Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia 18 Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland 19 Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK 20 Institute of Risk and Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK 21 University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia, Bulgaria 22 Department of Civil Engineering: Hydraulic, Energy and Environment, Technical University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain 23 Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany 24 Department for Catchment Hydrology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Halle, Germany 25 Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences, Department of Hydrology and Hydrodynamics, Warsaw, Poland 26 Institute of Geography, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia 27 Irstea, UR HHLY, Hydrology-Hydraulics Research Unit, Lyon, France 28 Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia 29 Department of Engineering, University Roma Tre, Rome, Italy 30 Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Oslo, Norway 31 Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment (IGEWE), Polytechnic University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
1 Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria 2 Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Norrköping, Sweden 3 Department of Civil, Informatics, Architectural, Environmental Engineering and Applied Mathematics, University of Messina, Messina, Italy 4 CSE – Control Systems Engineer, Renewable Energy Systems & Technology, Tirana, Albania 5 Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Prague, Czech Republic 6 Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy, Split University, Split, Croatia 7 Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Padua, Italy 8 Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland 9 Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering (DICAM), Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy 10 Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy 11 Department Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy 12 Lower Tisza District Water Directorate, Szeged, Hungary 13 Department Hydrological Research, Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute, Kiev, Ukraine 14 Department of Civil Engineering, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey 15 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK 16 Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK 17 Department of Land and Water Resources Management (Faculty of Civil Engineering), Slovak University of Technology Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia 18 Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland 19 Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK 20 Institute of Risk and Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK 21 University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia, Bulgaria 22 Department of Civil Engineering: Hydraulic, Energy and Environment, Technical University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain 23 Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany 24 Department for Catchment Hydrology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Halle, Germany 25 Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences, Department of Hydrology and Hydrodynamics, Warsaw, Poland 26 Institute of Geography, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia 27 Irstea, UR HHLY, Hydrology-Hydraulics Research Unit, Lyon, France 28 Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia 29 Department of Engineering, University Roma Tre, Rome, Italy 30 Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Oslo, Norway 31 Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment (IGEWE), Polytechnic University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
Correspondence : J. Hall (hall@hydro.tuwien.ac.at)
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The current work addresses one of the key building blocks towards an improved understanding of flood processes and associated changes in flood characteristics and regimes in Europe: the development of a comprehensive, extensive European flood database. The presented work results from ongoing cross-border research collaborations initiated with data collection and joint interpretation in mind. A detailed account of the current state, characteristics and spatial and temporal coverage of the European Flood Database, is presented. At this stage, the hydrological data collection is still growing and consists at this time of annual maximum and daily mean discharge series, from over 7000 hydrometric stations of various data series lengths. Moreover, the database currently comprises data from over 50 different data sources. The time series have been obtained from different national and regional data sources in a collaborative effort of a joint European flood research agreement based on the exchange of data, models and expertise, and from existing international data collections and open source websites. These ongoing efforts are contributing to advancing the understanding of regional flood processes beyond individual country boundaries and to a more coherent flood research in Europe.