Urban Impacts on Rainfall and Storm Event Hydrologic Response
Event details
| Date | 13.12.2011 |
| Hour | 16:15 |
| Speaker | Dr James A. Smith, Dept of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, USA |
| Location |
GR C0 01
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
We examine urban impacts on rainfall and storm event hydrologic response through empirical and numerical modeling studies, with the Baltimore (US) metropolitan region serving as the principal study area. We present supporting analyses for the New York, Atlanta, Charlotte and Milwaukee metropolitan regions in the US. Empirical analyses center on long (10 years), high-resolution (1 km horizontal resolution and 15 minute time resolution) radar rainfall data sets and stream gaging observations from dense urban networks. The warm season (June – August) rainfall climatology for the Baltimore region exhibits sharp spatial gradients in a diverse array of statistical properties characterizing mean rainfall, rainfall extremes and rainfall occurrence. Empirical analyses and numerical modeling studies using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are employed to examine the role of urban heat island, urban canopy and urban aerosols in modifying the regional rainfall climatology. In addition to urbanization effects, regional rainfall climatology for much of the urban corridor of the eastern US is linked to the effects of mountainous terrain and land-water boundaries. The spectrum of storm event hydrologic response is examined through empirical analyses of rainfall and discharge observations from “small” urban watersheds. For the Baltimore region, we utilize a sample of nine watersheds with drainage area of approximately 10 km2. Profound contrasts in storm event hydrologic response are linked to the distribution of impervious cover, elaboration of the drainage network through the storm drain network and the regional impacts of stormwater detention ponds.
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Practical information
- General public
- Free
Contact
- Prof. Alexis Berne, LTE