Simulation of a flash-flood event over the Adriatic Sea with a high-resolution atmosphere-ocean-wave coupled system

On the morning of September 26, 2007, a heavy precipitation event (HPE) affected the Venice lagoon and the neighbouring coastal zone of the Adriatic Sea, with 6-h accumulated rainfall summing up to about 360 mm in the area between the Venetian mainland, Padua and Chioggia. The event was triggered and maintained by the uplift over a convergence line between northeasterly flow from the Alps and southeasterly winds from the Adriatic Sea. Hindcast modelling experiments, using standalone atmospheric models, failed to capture the spatial distribution, maximum intensity and timing of the HPE. Here we analyze the event by means of an atmosphere-wave-ocean coupled numerical approach. The combined use of convection permitting models with grid spacing of 1 km, high-resolution sea surface temperature (SST) fields, and the consistent treatment of marine boundary layer fluxes in all the numerical model components are crucial to provide a realistic simulation of the event. Inaccurate representations of the SST affect the wind magnitude and, through this, the intensity, location and time evolution of the convergence zone, thus affecting the HPE prediction.

Automated summary

On the morning of September 26, 2007, a heavy precipitation event affected the Venice lagoon and neighbouring coastal zone of the Adriatic Sea, with traditional hindcast modelling experiments failing to accurately predict the event. An atmosphere-wave-ocean coupled numerical approach proved crucial for providing a more realistic simulation of such events, highlighting the importance of accurately representing sea surface temperature fields and marine boundary layer fluxes in numerical models.