Abstract
In this chapter, we explore in detail the synoptic conditions associated to the floods occurred on the Lower Danube River (from the entrance of the river in Romania through the Iron Gates gorge to the Danube Delta), as well as to the highest discharges recorded at Ceatal Izmail hydrometric station, before the entrance of the river into the deltaic region. The floods along this sector represent a response to the atmospheric circulation conditions over the entire Danube River basin, and therefore they can picture the synoptic conditions leading to high amounts of precipitation over the central and south-eastern part of Europe. The analysis investigated three flood events recorded along the Romanian side of the Danube River during the period 1980–2010, which generally corresponds to the current climate conditions.
In order to understand the triggering role of the atmospheric conditions for the floods occurrence, we have analyzed each flood in association with the phases of the most important teleconnections manifesting at continental scale—the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)—but also with regional atmospheric circulation conditions assessed using Gross Wetter Typen (GWT) method derived from COST733 catalogue.
The diachronic analysis takes in consideration the atmospheric circulation from the occurrence day of the flood peak back to three months prior to the hydrological event. Generally, the events are preceded by more positive phases of NAO and more negative values for the AO index especially within the three months’ period before the hydrological event. These conditions indicate on the long term the role of anticyclonic blocking conditions at continental level inducing a prolonged interval with atmospheric instability over the Danube catchment area, while on the short-term, zonal conditions can lead to cyclonic activity enhancing the increase of the river discharge. The results are reinforced by the GWT analysis which brings other valuable information depending on the season. In this way, we can see that during winter and early spring the south-westerly circulation can lead to warm advection and the rapid melting of the snowpack especially in the mountain area, while in summer the atmospheric circulation types inducing large scale convection represent the main trigger for the hydrological events.
The chapter presents detailed information structured on the following sub-sections: (1) overview of major flood events and historical discharges in the Lower Danube River; (2) weather associated with hydrological events for 1980–2010; (3) the methods used to assess the atmospheric circulation (teleconnection and GWTs) and (4) the classification of atmospheric circulation leading to major floods and highest discharges.
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Acknowledgements
Andreea-Diana Damian acknowledges the doctoral school of Geosciences for the support of her PhD study.
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Lucian Sfîcă and Andreea-Diana Damian are equally the main authors of the current study.
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Sfîcă, L., Damian, AD., Grozavu, A., Niță, AI., Bîrsan, MV. (2022). Synoptic Conditions Associated with Floods and Highest Discharges on Lower Danube River (1980–2010). In: Negm, A., Zaharia, L., Ioana-Toroimac, G. (eds) The Lower Danube River. Earth and Environmental Sciences Library. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-03865-5_11
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