Advances in Geosciences www.adv-geosci.net 1680-7340 1680-7359 17 9th EGU Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms (2007) 2008 10.5194/adgeo-17-35-2008 http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/35/2008/ http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/35/2008/adgeo-17-35-2008.html http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/35/2008/adgeo-17-35-2008.pdf 35 41 2008-06-20 Characterization of a Mediterranean flash flood event using rain gauges, radar, GIS and lightning data M. Barnolas A. Atencia M. C. Llasat T. Rigo Meteorological Hazards Analysis Team (GAMA) Department of Astronomy & Meteorology Faculty of Physics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Meteorological Service of Catalonia, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain Mercè Barnolas, Department of Astronomy and Meteorology, Faculty of Physics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Flash flood events are very common in Catalonia, generating a high impact on society, including losses in life almost every year. They are produced by the overflowing of ephemeral rivers in narrow and steep basins close to the sea. This kind of floods is associated with convective events producing high rainfall intensities. The aim of the present study is to analyse the 12–14 September 2006 flash flood event within the framework of the characteristics of flood events in the Internal Basins of Catalonia (IBC). To achieve this purpose all flood events occurred between 1996 and 2005 have been analysed. Rainfall and radar data have been introduced into a GIS, and a classification of the events has been done. A distinction of episodes has been made considering the spatial coverage of accumulated rainfall in 24 h, and the degree of the convective precipitation registered. The study case can be considered as a highly convective one, with rainfalls covering all the IBC on the 13th of September. In that day 215.9 mm/24 h were recorded with maximum intensities above 130 mm/h. A complete meteorological study of this event is also presented. In addition, as this is an episode with a high lightning activity it has been chosen to be studied into the framework of the FLASH project. In this way, a comparison between this information and raingauge data has been developed. All with the goal in mind of finding a relation between lightning density, radar echoes and amounts of precipitation. Furthermore, these studies improve our knowledge about thunderstorms systems. Barnolas, M. and Llasat, M. C.: A flood geodatabase and its climatological applications: the case of Catalonia for the last century, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 7, 271–281, 2007. Ceperuelo, M., Llasat, M. C., and Rigo, T.: Rainfall events and hailstorms analysis program (RHAP), Adv. Geosci., 7, 205–213, 2006. Llasat M. C.: An objective classification of rainfall events on the basis of their convective features: Application to rainfall intensity in the north-east of Spain, Int. J. Climatol., 21, 1385–1400, 2001. Rigo, T. and Llasat, M. C.: A methodology for the classification of convective structures using meteorological radar, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 4, 59–68, 2004. Rigo, T. and Llasat, M. C.: Analysis of mesoscale convective systems in Catalonia using meteorological radar for the period 1996–2000, Atmos. Res., 83, 458–472, 2007.