Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in Europe

Extreme-temperature anomalies such as heat and cold waves may have strong impacts on human activities and health. The heat waves in western Europe in 2003 and in Russia in 2010, or the cold wave in southeastern Europe in 2012, generated a considerable amount of economic loss and resulted in the d...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: C. Lavaysse, C. Cammalleri, A. Dosio, G. van der Schrier, A. Toreti, J. Vogt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2018-01-01
Series:Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
Online Access:https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/18/91/2018/nhess-18-91-2018.pdf
_version_ 1811318607790997504
author C. Lavaysse
C. Cammalleri
A. Dosio
G. van der Schrier
A. Toreti
J. Vogt
author_facet C. Lavaysse
C. Cammalleri
A. Dosio
G. van der Schrier
A. Toreti
J. Vogt
author_sort C. Lavaysse
collection DOAJ
description Extreme-temperature anomalies such as heat and cold waves may have strong impacts on human activities and health. The heat waves in western Europe in 2003 and in Russia in 2010, or the cold wave in southeastern Europe in 2012, generated a considerable amount of economic loss and resulted in the death of several thousands of people. Providing an operational system to monitor extreme-temperature anomalies in Europe is thus of prime importance to help decision makers and emergency services to be responsive to an unfolding extreme event. <br><br> In this study, the development and the validation of a monitoring system of extreme-temperature anomalies are presented. The first part of the study describes the methodology based on the persistence of events exceeding a percentile threshold. The method is applied to three different observational datasets, in order to assess the robustness and highlight uncertainties in the observations. The climatology of extreme events from the last 21 years is then analysed to highlight the spatial and temporal variability of the hazard, and discrepancies amongst the observational datasets are discussed. In the last part of the study, the products derived from this study are presented and discussed with respect to previous studies. The results highlight the accuracy of the developed index and the statistical robustness of the distribution used to calculate the return periods.
first_indexed 2024-04-13T12:28:44Z
format Article
id doaj.art-39d21b79f24143da87f9d15ca876ee99
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1561-8633
1684-9981
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T12:28:44Z
publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher Copernicus Publications
record_format Article
series Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
spelling doaj.art-39d21b79f24143da87f9d15ca876ee992022-12-22T02:46:55ZengCopernicus PublicationsNatural Hazards and Earth System Sciences1561-86331684-99812018-01-01189110410.5194/nhess-18-91-2018Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in EuropeC. Lavaysse0C. Cammalleri1A. Dosio2G. van der Schrier3A. Toreti4J. Vogt5European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, ItalyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, ItalyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, ItalyRoyal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), De Bilt, the NetherlandsEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, ItalyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, ItalyExtreme-temperature anomalies such as heat and cold waves may have strong impacts on human activities and health. The heat waves in western Europe in 2003 and in Russia in 2010, or the cold wave in southeastern Europe in 2012, generated a considerable amount of economic loss and resulted in the death of several thousands of people. Providing an operational system to monitor extreme-temperature anomalies in Europe is thus of prime importance to help decision makers and emergency services to be responsive to an unfolding extreme event. <br><br> In this study, the development and the validation of a monitoring system of extreme-temperature anomalies are presented. The first part of the study describes the methodology based on the persistence of events exceeding a percentile threshold. The method is applied to three different observational datasets, in order to assess the robustness and highlight uncertainties in the observations. The climatology of extreme events from the last 21 years is then analysed to highlight the spatial and temporal variability of the hazard, and discrepancies amongst the observational datasets are discussed. In the last part of the study, the products derived from this study are presented and discussed with respect to previous studies. The results highlight the accuracy of the developed index and the statistical robustness of the distribution used to calculate the return periods.https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/18/91/2018/nhess-18-91-2018.pdf
spellingShingle C. Lavaysse
C. Cammalleri
A. Dosio
G. van der Schrier
A. Toreti
J. Vogt
Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in Europe
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
title Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in Europe
title_full Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in Europe
title_fullStr Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in Europe
title_full_unstemmed Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in Europe
title_short Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in Europe
title_sort towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in europe
url https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/18/91/2018/nhess-18-91-2018.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT clavaysse towardsamonitoringsystemoftemperatureextremesineurope
AT ccammalleri towardsamonitoringsystemoftemperatureextremesineurope
AT adosio towardsamonitoringsystemoftemperatureextremesineurope
AT gvanderschrier towardsamonitoringsystemoftemperatureextremesineurope
AT atoreti towardsamonitoringsystemoftemperatureextremesineurope
AT jvogt towardsamonitoringsystemoftemperatureextremesineurope