Extreme precipitation events in the Brahmaputra River basin during the Indian summer monsoon and its association with atmospheric moisture transport

Due to climate change, rising temperatures cause the atmosphere to hold more moisture, likely increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events. These events, lasting several days, are the leading causes of floods. Recently, floods from multi-day precipitation extremes (MPEs) ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of water and climate change 2024-08, Vol.15 (8), p.3506-3521
Main Authors: Gupta, Hariom, Raghuvanshi, Akash Singh, Agarwal, Ankit
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric moisture
Climate change
Daily precipitation
Extreme weather
Floods
Hydrologic cycle
Low pressure
Moisture
Monsoons
Precipitation
Pressure anomalies
Rain
Risk management
Risk reduction
River basins
Rivers
Summer
Summer monsoon
Temperature rise
Water vapor
Water vapor transport
Water vapour
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Summary:Due to climate change, rising temperatures cause the atmosphere to hold more moisture, likely increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events. These events, lasting several days, are the leading causes of floods. Recently, floods from multi-day precipitation extremes (MPEs) have risen significantly. The Brahmaputra River basin (BRB) in India is particularly vulnerable to flooding during the Indian summer monsoon due to its transboundary nature. It is crucial to characterize and rank MPEs to understand their risk, impact, and underlying drivers. This study ranked MPEs of different durations based on intensity and spatial extent during the Indian summer monsoon over the BRB using a high-resolution daily precipitation dataset from 1951 to 2022. In addition, it evaluates the association between atmospheric moisture transport and MPEs by quantifying integrated water vapor transport (IVT) during top-ranked MPEs. The analysis indicates intense IVT in the mid-tropospheric layer (850–500 hPa) over the MPE regions during top-ranked events and identifies significant low-pressure anomalies and shifts from ridge to trough patterns. Quantifying the connection between MPEs and IVT can aid in early prediction and risk reduction.
ISSN:2040-2244
2408-9354
DOI:10.2166/wcc.2024.486