Collaborative Research: Extreme Rainfall in Urban Environments

在本研究中，城市化对极端降雨和洪水的影响将通过对来自美国城市流域不同样本的降雨和洪水的相互比较研究和对极端降雨和洪水的建模研究相结合来检验。本研究将解决的主要问题是：城市化如何改变极端降雨和洪水的区域水文气候学？研究将围绕城市化对极端降雨气候学的影响和城市化对城市流域洪水响应的影响展开。关注城市化和极端降雨的问题如下：城市化如何改变产生洪水的风暴系统降雨的时空分布？在城市地区产生山洪暴发的风暴系统的特征生命周期是什么？水陆边界和复杂地形如何与城市环境相互作用来控制极端降雨的区域分布？关注城市化和极端洪水的问题如下：城市化如何改变导致极端洪水的风暴系统的数量？城市发展模式和降雨的时空结构如何决定城市流域的尺度依赖性洪水响应？智力价值：该研究旨在为城市化对极端降雨和洪水的影响提供预测性理解。城市环境为研究水文气象过程的空间异质性提供了一个特别有趣和重要的环境。城市环境也为表征区域气候变化提供了一个具有挑战性的环境，该研究将有助于更广泛地理解极端降雨和洪水的非平稳性。更广泛的影响：该项目是普林斯顿大学和普渡大学研究小组的合作成果，将培养研究生，并为本科生开展独立研究项目（通过大四论文、大三独立项目和暑期实习）提供资源和基础设施。此外，该项目的研究元素将整合到普林斯顿大学土木与环境工程、普渡大学环境科学与工程以及气象学和应用气候/气候变化课程的本科课程中，以“城市环境”领域的倡议为基础。从这项研究中获得的结果不仅对水文学家、气候科学家和大气科学家，而且对包括应急管理办公室、城市规划方案和洪水预报办公室在内的广泛终端用户都具有重要和直接的意义。这项研究将转化为培训材料，其目标是发展可持续科学研究人员和教育工作者的教育和劳动力需求。将与印第安纳州气候服务团队和普渡大学土地使用团队合作，开发和传播培训和推广材料。

In this study, the impacts of urbanization on extreme rainfall and flooding will be examined through a combination of intercomparison studies of rainfall and flooding from a diverse sample of urban watersheds in the US and through modeling studies of extreme rainfall and flooding. The principal question that will be addressed in this study is: How does urbanization alter the regional hydroclimatology of extreme rainfall and flooding? Research will be organized around questions that address urbanization impacts on the climatology of extreme rainfall and questions that address urbanization impacts on flood response in urban watersheds. Questions that focus on urbanization and extreme rainfall are the following: How does urbanization alter the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall from flood-producing storm systems? What are the characteristic life cycles of storm systems that produce flash floods in urban regions? How do land - water boundaries and complex terrain interact with the urban environment to control the regional distribution of extreme rainfall? Questions that focus on urbanization and extreme flooding are the following: How does urbanization alter the population of storm systems that are responsible for extreme flooding? How does the pattern of urban development, along with the space-time structure of rainfall, determine the scale-dependent flood response of urban watersheds?Intellectual merit:The research is designed to provide a predictive understanding of the impacts of urbanization on extreme rainfall and flooding. Urban environments represent an especially interesting and important setting for examining spatial heterogeneities in hydrometeorological processes. Urban environments also present a challenging setting for characterizing regional climate change and the research will contribute to a broader understanding of nonstationarities in extreme rainfall and flooding.Broader impacts:This project, which is a collaborative effort of research groups from Princeton and Purdue, will train graduate students and provide the resources and infrastructure for undergraduate students to carry out independent research projects (through Senior Thesis, Junior Independent Project and summer internships). Furthermore, the research elements of the project will be integrated throughout the undergraduate curriculum in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton and at Environmental Science and Engineering as well as Meteorology and Applied Climate/Climate Change curriculum at Purdue, building on initiatives in the area of the "urban environment". Results obtained from this research will be of significant and immediate interest, not only to hydrologists, climate scientists and atmospheric scientists but also to a wide range of end users, including emergency management offices, urban planning programs and flood forecasting offices. The research will be translated into training material, which will be targeted for developing the education and workforce needs of sustainable science researchers and educators. Work with the Indiana State Climate Service Team and Purdue's Land Use Team to develop and disseminate training and outreach material will be carried out.