Extreme events such as flash floods and debris flows are frequent phenomena that occur in steep torrential catchments; these kinds of events can cause notable geomorphic changes. Repeated terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) surveys were performed in a section of a steep forested channel of the Kuzlovec torrent. Base on the TLS data we analysed changes in hydrological and morphological conditions in the torrential stream channel. The 2014 August extreme flash flood that was initiated by the rainfall event with a return period exceeding 100 years, led to erosion rates of an order of magnitude higher than average annual erosion rates. Moreover, the analysis of the geomorphic changes shows that the August 2014 flash flood caused intense sediment transport processes that resulted in the changes at the location of the main stream channel thalweg and reduced channel roughness.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7507041
Temporal rainfall distribution can often have significant influence on other hydrological processes such as runoff generation or rainfall interception. High-frequency rainfall data from 30 stations in Slovenia were analysed in order to improve the knowledge about the temporal rainfall distribution within a rainfall event. Using the pre-processed rainfall data Huff curves were determined and the binary shape code (BSC) methodology was applied. Although Slovenia covers only about 20,000 km2, results indicate large temporal and spatial variability in the precipitation pattern of the analysed stations, which is in agreement with the different Slovenian climate types: sub-Mediterranean, temperate continental, and mountain climate.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7650913
Floods, landslides and debris flows are natural events that occur all over the world and are often induced by extreme rainfall conditions. Several extreme events occurred in Slovenia (Europe) in the last 25 years that caused 18 casualties and approximately 500 million Euros of economic loss. The intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) relationship was constructed using the Frank copula function for several rainfall stations using high-resolution rainfall data with an average subsample length of 34 years. The empirical rainfall threshold curves were also evaluated for selected extreme events. Post-event analyses showed that rainfall characteristics triggering flash floods and landslides are different. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that the inter-event time definition (IETD) and subsample definition methodology can have a significant influence on the position of rainfall events in the intensity-duration space, the constructed IDF curves and on the relationship between the empirical rainfall threshold curves and the IDF curves constructed using the copula approach. Furthermore, a combination of several empirical rainfall thresholds with an appropriate high-density rainfall measurement network can be used as part of the early warning system of the initiation of landslides and debris flows. However, different rainfall threshold curves should be used for lowland and mountainous areas in Slovenia.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7402849