Synoptic preconditions for extreme flooding during the summer Asian Monsoon in the Mumbai area

Lomazzi, M., Entekhabi, D., Pinto, J. G., Roth, G. and Rudari, R. (2014) Synoptic preconditions for extreme flooding during the summer Asian Monsoon in the Mumbai area. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 15 (1). pp. 229-242. ISSN 1525-755X doi: 10.1175/JHM-D-13-039.1

Abstract/Summary

The summer monsoon season is an important hydrometeorological feature of the Indian subcontinent and it has significant socioeconomic impacts. This study is aimed at understanding the processes associated with the occurrence of catastrophic flood events. The study has two novel features that add to the existing body of knowledge about the South Asian Monsoon: 1) combine traditional hydrometeorological observations (rain gauge measurements) with unconventional data (media and state historical records of reported flooding) to produce value-added century-long time-series of potential flood events, and 2) identify the larger regional synoptic conditions leading to days with flood potential in the time-series. The promise of mining unconventional data to extend hydrometeorological records is demonstrated in this study. The synoptic evolution of flooding events in the western-central coast of India and the densely populated Mumbai area are shown to correspond to active monsoon periods with embedded low-pressure centers and have far upstream influence from the western edge of the Indian Ocean basin. The coastal processes along the Arabian Peninsula where the currents interact with the continental shelf are found to be key features of extremes during the South Asian Monsoon

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/34412
Identification Number/DOI	10.1175/JHM-D-13-039.1
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	AMS Journals Online
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