Monitoring and Modelling of Extreme Hydrometeorological Events

Abstract

Hydrometeorological events are becoming more intense and are attributed to climate change from anthropogenic activities and long-term natural meteorological cycles. Such events have resulted in record droughts, rain, floods, temperatures, and even seismological activities. Recent studies have revealed that fast-moving droughts are emerging quickly, adding a new challenge to hazards for farmers and water managers. Most climate model projections show a continued precipitation decrease in several regions and a temperature increase of around 1.5 - 4.0°C through 2100. The authors posit that new drought indices can now be calculated, due to the development of satellite imaging and remote sensing approaches. Grid computing offers data-processing capability and the ability to use distributed computing resources to process the spatial data provided by satellite images. Platforms, such as Google Earth Engine, offer a collection of satellite images and the opportunity to implement algorithms to provide geo-spatial analysis. These tools can also be used for flash floods and other extreme events.