Floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand: the importance of atmospheric rivers

Daniel G. Kingston; David A. Lavers; David M. Hannah

doi:10.1002/hyp.10982

Floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand: the importance of atmospheric rivers

Daniel G. Kingston^*, David A. Lavers, David M. Hannah

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Extremely high precipitation occurs in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, associated with both orographic enhancement and synoptic-scale weather processes. In this study, we test the hypothesis that atmospheric rivers (ARs) are a key driver of floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Vertically integrated water vapour and horizontal water vapour transport, and atmospheric circulation, are investigated concurrently with major floods on the Waitaki River (a major South Island river). Analysis of the largest eight winter maximum floods between 1979 and 2012 indicates that all are associated with ARs. Geopotential height fields reveal that these ARs are located in slow eastward moving extratropical cyclones, with high pressure to the northeast of New Zealand. The confirmation of ARs as a contributor to Waitaki flooding indicates the need for their further exploration to better understand South Island hydrometeorological extremes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	5063-5070
Number of pages	8
Journal	Hydrological Processes
Volume	30
Issue number	26
Early online date	22 Sept 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10982
Publication status	Published - 30 Dec 2016

Keywords

atmospheric rivers
flooding
New Zealand
precipitation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Water Science and Technology

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10.1002/hyp.10982Licence: None: All rights reserved

Kingston_et_al-2016-Hydrological_Processes revised
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Kingston D. G., Lavers D. A., and Hannah D. M. (2016) Floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand: the importance of atmospheric rivers, Hydrol. Process., 30: 5063–5070, which has been published in final form at 10.1002/hyp.10982. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
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title = "Floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand: the importance of atmospheric rivers",

abstract = "Extremely high precipitation occurs in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, associated with both orographic enhancement and synoptic-scale weather processes. In this study, we test the hypothesis that atmospheric rivers (ARs) are a key driver of floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Vertically integrated water vapour and horizontal water vapour transport, and atmospheric circulation, are investigated concurrently with major floods on the Waitaki River (a major South Island river). Analysis of the largest eight winter maximum floods between 1979 and 2012 indicates that all are associated with ARs. Geopotential height fields reveal that these ARs are located in slow eastward moving extratropical cyclones, with high pressure to the northeast of New Zealand. The confirmation of ARs as a contributor to Waitaki flooding indicates the need for their further exploration to better understand South Island hydrometeorological extremes.",

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N2 - Extremely high precipitation occurs in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, associated with both orographic enhancement and synoptic-scale weather processes. In this study, we test the hypothesis that atmospheric rivers (ARs) are a key driver of floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Vertically integrated water vapour and horizontal water vapour transport, and atmospheric circulation, are investigated concurrently with major floods on the Waitaki River (a major South Island river). Analysis of the largest eight winter maximum floods between 1979 and 2012 indicates that all are associated with ARs. Geopotential height fields reveal that these ARs are located in slow eastward moving extratropical cyclones, with high pressure to the northeast of New Zealand. The confirmation of ARs as a contributor to Waitaki flooding indicates the need for their further exploration to better understand South Island hydrometeorological extremes.

AB - Extremely high precipitation occurs in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, associated with both orographic enhancement and synoptic-scale weather processes. In this study, we test the hypothesis that atmospheric rivers (ARs) are a key driver of floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Vertically integrated water vapour and horizontal water vapour transport, and atmospheric circulation, are investigated concurrently with major floods on the Waitaki River (a major South Island river). Analysis of the largest eight winter maximum floods between 1979 and 2012 indicates that all are associated with ARs. Geopotential height fields reveal that these ARs are located in slow eastward moving extratropical cyclones, with high pressure to the northeast of New Zealand. The confirmation of ARs as a contributor to Waitaki flooding indicates the need for their further exploration to better understand South Island hydrometeorological extremes.

KW - atmospheric rivers

KW - flooding

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KW - precipitation

U2 - 10.1002/hyp.10982

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AN - SCOPUS:84988614788

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JO - Hydrological Processes

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Floods in the Southern Alps of New Zealand: the importance of atmospheric rivers

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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