A catalogue of the flood forecasting practices in the Danube River Basin

Floods are one of the most devastating natural disasters that can cause large economic damage and endanger human lives. Flood forecasting is one of the flood risk mitigation measures serving to protect human lives and social estate. The Danube River Basin (DRB) is the world's most international river basin, flowing through the territory of 19 countries, covering more than 800,000 km(2). The frequency of floods in the DRB increased in the last decades, urging the need for a more effective and harmonized regional and cross-border cooperation in the field of flood forecasting. Reliable and comprehensive hydrologic data are the basis of flood forecasting. This paper provides an overview of the national flood forecasting systems in the DRB. Detailed information about meteorological and hydrological measurements, flood modelling, forecasting, and flood warnings is provided for 12 countries that cover almost 95% of the total DRB area. Notably, significant differences exist among the countries in terms of the measuring network density, the models used as well as forecasting and warnings methodology. These differences can be attributed to the geographical and climatological setting, political situation, historical forecasting development, etc. It can be seen that there is still much room left for improvements of measurement networks (e.g., density, measured parameters) and models used that could be improved to enhance the flood forecasting in the DRB.

Automated summary

Flood forecasting is crucial for protecting human lives and social assets, with significant differences existing among countries in the Danube River Basin, leaving room for improvements in measurement networks and models used to enhance flood forecasting in the region.