Author(s): S. Gegenleithner; J. Schneider; C. Dorfmann

Linked Author(s): Clemens Dorfmann, Josef Schneider

Keywords: Torrential floods; Climate change; Sediment transport; Alpine catchment; Numerical modelling

Abstract: This article presents the ongoing research project RunSed-CC. The aim of this project is to model the hydrological reaction of torrents on climate change and the ensuing sediment transport in a coherent model chain. Sediment-laden torrential floods are among the most important natural hazards in the Alpine region. Ongoing climate change in the Austrian Alps will make it necessary to expand and reassess protection measures. RunSed-CC tackles this problem by numerical modelling of present and future sediment transport in an Alpine catchment. A 2D depth-averaged numerical model is used to model the hydrodynamical and hydromorphological processes. The runoff based on spatially highly resolved climate scenarios under moderate and high-end climate change scenarios as well as extensive field measurements and estimations on sediment availability serve as input for the numerical model. The study is conducted in a well-investigated catchment in Western Styria, Austria. The present project, RunSed-CC, is the successor of the ClimCatch project, which already dealt with the impact of climate change on the sediment yield in the same catchment. As part of ClimCatch, a sophisticated measurement infrastructure was established in the catchment. Measured data from the previous project as well as new measurements from meteorological stations, gauges and Sediment Impact Sensors are used to calibrate and validate the numerical model. The project RunSed-CC further aims at transferring the research outcomes about the changes of sediment transport due to climate change to similar catchments in the Austrian Alps.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/978-981-11-2731-1_254-cd

Year: 2018