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Storm-Erosivity Model for Addressing Hydrological Effectiveness in France

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Storminess and Environmental Change

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 39))

Abstract

This chapter presents and assesses the Decadal Rainfall Erosive Multiscale Model-France (DREMM-F), in which extreme precipitation data (to the right of the 95th percentile) are used to estimate decadal-scale rainfall–runoff erosivity values compatible with the Universal Soil Loss Equation and its revision – (R)USLE. The model meets the need of estimating rainfall-runoff erosivity when sub-daily extremes rainfall data are missing. The test region is mainland France (and surrounding areas), in which 26 weather stations (ranging from about 27–1,300 m a.s.l.) with rain and (R)USLE rainfall-runoff erosivity data were available over multiple decades. The construction of the model is simplified to a location-explicit term and to the understanding that the most erosive rainfalls are those recorded during the summertime and the beginning of autumn (May–October) as known from the European climatology. In addition, the inclusion of a site-specific elevation term allowed to account for the specific features of mainland France. Once parameterized to capture decadal rainfall–runoff erosivity variability over the test area, the DREMM-F was run to produce the temporal pattern of rainfall-runoff erosivity in the Rhône river basin, and compared to the sequence of flash-floods events over 1951–2010. It was also tested in comparison with previous models at selected sites. Implications for rainfall-runoff erosivity modelling were also discussed concluding that a limited number of parameters may be sufficient to represent decadal rainfall-runoff erosivity in a region positioned at the crossing of a zone of contrasting precipitation patterns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grassland Ecosystem Research Unit, French National Institute of Agricultural Research, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Gianni Bellocchi

  2. Met European Research Observatory, Benevento, Italy

    Nazzareno Diodato

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  1. Gianni Bellocchi
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  2. Nazzareno Diodato
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Correspondence to Gianni Bellocchi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. HyMex Network, Met European Research Observatory, Benevento, Italy

    Nazzareno Diodato

  2. Grassland Ecosystem Research Unit, French National Institute of Agricultural Research, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Gianni Bellocchi

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Bellocchi, G., Diodato, N. (2014). Storm-Erosivity Model for Addressing Hydrological Effectiveness in France. In: Diodato, N., Bellocchi, G. (eds) Storminess and Environmental Change. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7948-8_9

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