Open AccessFlood seasonality in Greece and its comparison to seasonal distribution of flooding in selected areas across southern Europe
Author(s) -
Diakakis M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of flood risk management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.049
H-Index - 36
ISSN - 1753-318X
DOI - 10.1111/jfr3.12139
Subject(s) - seasonality , flood myth , flooding (psychology) , geography , mediterranean climate , climatology , physical geography , ecology , archaeology , geology , biology , psychology , psychotherapist
This paper examines flood seasonality in Greece and its 13 regions by studying a catalogue of 553 events between 1880 and 2010. Findings are compared with the conclusions of similar analyses in selected areas across southern Europe. Results show that flooding in Greece presents strong seasonality as 46.6% of the total events occur during autumn and mostly during November (20.6%). Examination of smaller geographical entities shows different seasonality patterns between eastern, western, southern, and northern parts of Greece. Comparison with findings in Spain, Italy, and Cyprus show that summer floods are far more frequent in the northern parts of these countries. On the contrary, winter floods present higher percentages in the south. A significant shift in seasonality was identified between the western and southeastern Mediterranean Region. Results provide new knowledge for flood prevention planning by improving the current understanding of flood seasonality across the region.