Thesis
Understanding compounding heatwave-extreme rainfall events for building climate resilience
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2023
- Thesis identifier
- T16701
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 201968789
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Extreme rainfall can lead to (flash) flooding which can cause high impacts on society. It has been shown recently that the intensity and likelihood of extreme rainfall can be increased if it occurs immediately after a heatwave, amplifying the chance of flash flooding compared to non-heatwave conditions. However, many aspects about the relationship between heatwaves and extreme rainfall remain poorly understood, making any assessment of the risk difficult. This thesis addresses the gaps in understanding these compound heatwave-extreme rainfall events by investigating their characteristics, including their likelihood, spatial distribution, and underlying mechanisms. In a case study for Australia, it is shown that in most regions extreme rainfall is both more frequent and more intense after a heatwave compared to climatological conditions, irrespective of which definitions and thresholds are used. Similar results are then also found on a global scale, where it is shown that in many regions the likelihood of extreme rainfall events after heatwaves is higher compared to climatological conditions. Hotspots are found in the higher latitudes such as in Central Europe, where extreme rainfall likelihood can be increased by factor four or more. In general, compound heatwave-extreme rainfall events are most likely to occur in moderate and colder climates, specifically if the local climate is characterised by sufficient rainfall. Finally, analysis of the driving mechanisms behind compound heatwave-extreme rainfall events in Europe and Australia reveals that both synoptic-scale and thermodynamic drivers (i.e., fronts and thunderstorms) are strongly associated with heatwave-to-extreme rainfall transitions. Additionally, high atmospheric moisture content is identified to be a necessary condition for heatwaves to be followed by extreme rainfall. The advances in understanding compound heatwave-extreme rainfall events demonstrated in this thesis are crucial to understanding current and future risk and provide the basis for increasing long-term resilience to these events.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Westra, Seth
- Fowler, H. (Hayley J.)
- White, Christopher J.
- Resource Type
- DOI
Relations
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PDF of thesis T16701 | 2023-09-26 | Public | Download |