Journal article
Recent trends in U.S. flood risk
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol.43(24), pp.12,428-12,436
12/28/2016
DOI: 10.1002/2016GL071199
Abstract
Flooding is projected to become more frequent as warming temperatures amplify the atmosphere's water holding capacity and increase the occurrence of extreme precipitation events. However, there is still little evidence of regional changes in flood risk across the USA. Here we present a novel approach assessing the trends in inundation frequency above the National Weather Service's four flood level categories in 2042 catchments. Results reveal stark regional patterns of changing flood risk that are broadly consistent above the four flood categories. We show that these patterns are dependent on the overall wetness and potential water storage, with fundamental implications for water resources management, agriculture, insurance, navigation, ecology, and populations living in flood‐affected areas. Our findings may assist in a better communication of changing flood patterns to a wider audience compared with the more traditional approach of stating trends in terms of discharge magnitudes and frequencies.
Key Points
We propose the first quantification of changes in inundation frequency above action, minor, moderate, and major flood stage
We find stark regional patterns of changing flood risk that are consistent above all four flood categories
These patterns are strongly preconditioned by the long‐term wetness and the water storage availability
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Recent trends in U.S. flood risk
- Creators
- Louise J Slater - University of IowaGabriele Villarini - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol.43(24), pp.12,428-12,436
- DOI
- 10.1002/2016GL071199
- ISSN
- 0094-8276
- eISSN
- 1944-8007
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- Engineer Research and Development Center–Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (W913E5‐16‐C‐0002) National Science Foundation under CAREER (AGS‐1349827) Broad Agency Announcement Program
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 12/28/2016
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9983992034602771
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