The role of seasonal and occasional floods in the origin of extreme hydrological events

Abstract

Extreme hydrological events on the rivers of European part of Russia are closely related to the hydrological regime transformation answering recent climate changes. Rivers in this region used to be traditionally attributed to the Eastern-European type with well-pronounced seasonal flood wave and quite low flow period during summer and winter. During the last twenty years the role of the occasional floods became more and more important. Number of winter floods, connected with thaws rose dramatically, in the same manner as summer flash floods. In this study, the frequency and duration of extreme low flow and high flow events is analyzed. The deficits during hydrological year were calculated. Due to results increase in natural runoff regulation, does not reduce frequency of extreme events, in some regions it raises.