Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2019
06 Sep 2023
 | 06 Sep 2023

Assessing the impact of climate change on high return levels of peak flows in Bavaria applying the CRCM5 Large Ensemble

Florian Willkofer, Raul Roger Wood, and Ralf Ludwig

Abstract. Severe floods with extreme return periods of 100 years and beyond have been observed in several large rivers in Bavaria in the last three decades. Flood protection structures are typically designed based on a 100-year event, relying on statistical extrapolations of relatively short observation time series while ignoring potential temporal non-stationarity. However, future precipitation projections indicate an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events, as well as a shift in seasonality. This study aims to examine the impact of climate change on the 100-year flood (HF100) events on 98 hydrometric gauges within the Hydrological Bavaria. A hydrological climate change impact (CCI) modelling chain consisting of a regional single model initial condition large ensemble (SMILE) and a single hydrological model was created. The 50 equally probable members of the CRCM5-LE were used to drive the hydrological model WaSiM to create a hydro-SMILE. As a result, a database of 1,500 model years (50 members x 30 years) per investigated time period was established for extreme value analysis (EVA) to illustrate the benefit of the hydro-SMILE approach for a robust estimation of the HF100 based on annual maxima (AM), and to examine the CCI on the frequency and intensity of HF100 in different discharge regimes under a strong emission scenario (RCP8.5). The results demonstrate that the hydro-SMILE approach provides a clear advantage for a robust estimation of the HF100 using empirical probability on 1,500 AM compared to its estimation using the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution on 1,000 samples of typically available time series size of 30, 100, and 200 years. Thereby, by applying the hydro-SMILE framework the uncertainty from statistical estimation can be reduced. The CCI on the HF100 varies for different flow regimes, with snowmelt-driven catchments experiencing severe increases in frequency and intensity, leading to unseen extremes that impact the distribution. Pluvial regimes show a lower intensification or even decline. The study highlights the added value of using hydrological SMILEs to project future flood return levels.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

08 Jul 2024
Assessing the impact of climate change on high return levels of peak flows in Bavaria applying the CRCM5 large ensemble
Florian Willkofer, Raul R. Wood, and Ralf Ludwig
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2969–2989, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2969-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2969-2024, 2024
Short summary
Florian Willkofer, Raul Roger Wood, and Ralf Ludwig

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2019', Anonymous Referee #1, 26 Oct 2023
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Florian Willkofer, 28 Nov 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2019', Anonymous Referee #2, 30 Oct 2023
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC2', Florian Willkofer, 28 Nov 2023

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2019', Anonymous Referee #1, 26 Oct 2023
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Florian Willkofer, 28 Nov 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2019', Anonymous Referee #2, 30 Oct 2023
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC2', Florian Willkofer, 28 Nov 2023

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (13 Dec 2023) by Rohini Kumar
AR by Florian Willkofer on behalf of the Authors (08 Feb 2024)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (09 Feb 2024) by Rohini Kumar
RR by Anonymous Referee #3 (12 Mar 2024)
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (20 Mar 2024) by Rohini Kumar
AR by Florian Willkofer on behalf of the Authors (15 Apr 2024)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (18 Apr 2024) by Rohini Kumar
AR by Florian Willkofer on behalf of the Authors (28 Apr 2024)  Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

08 Jul 2024
Assessing the impact of climate change on high return levels of peak flows in Bavaria applying the CRCM5 large ensemble
Florian Willkofer, Raul R. Wood, and Ralf Ludwig
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2969–2989, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2969-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2969-2024, 2024
Short summary
Florian Willkofer, Raul Roger Wood, and Ralf Ludwig
Florian Willkofer, Raul Roger Wood, and Ralf Ludwig

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Short summary
Severe flood events pose threat to riverine areas, yet robust estimates about the dynamics of these events in the future due to climate change are rarely available. Hence, this study uses and benefits from data from a RCM SMILE to drive a high-resolution hydrological model for 98 catchments of the Hydrological Bavaria to exploit the large database to derive robust values for the 100-year flood events. Results indicate an increase in frequency and intensity for most catchments in the future.