Classification of mechanisms, climatic context, areal scaling, and synchronization of floods: the hydroclimatology of floods in the Upper Paraná River basin, Brazil

Lima, Carlos H. R.; AghaKouchak, Amir; Lall, Upmanu

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-1071-2017

Articles | Volume 8, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-1071-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Special issue:

Hydro-climate dynamics, analytics and predictability

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-8-1071-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 8, issue 4

Research article

|

01 Dec 2017

Research article |

| 01 Dec 2017

Classification of mechanisms, climatic context, areal scaling, and synchronization of floods: the hydroclimatology of floods in the Upper Paraná River basin, Brazil

Carlos H. R. Lima, Amir AghaKouchak, and Upmanu Lall

Data sets

Daily gridded meteorological variables in Brazil (1980–2013) (http://careyking.com/data-download/) A. C. Xavier, C. W. King, and B. R. Scanlonc https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4518

Short summary

Floods are the main natural disaster in Brazil, causing substantial economic damage and loss of life. Here we seek to better understand the flood-generating mechanisms in the flood-prone Paraná River basin, including large-scale patterns of the ocean and atmospheric circulation. This study provides new insights for understanding causes of floods in the region and around the world and is a step forward to improve flood risk management, statistical assessments, and short-term flood forecasts.