Assessment of the water supply to Mediterranean heavy precipitation: A method based on finely designed water budgets

Abstract

A major ingredient for Mediterranean Heavy Precipitating Events (HPEs) is the low-level moisture transport towards the coast. This paper proposes a methodology allowing a spatially and temporally continuous study of the water supply to Mediterranean HPEs. It is based on water budgets computed from mesoscale numerical simulation outputs. The method is applied on four typical HPEs over Southeastern France. It allows to identify and assess quantitatively the contributions of local Mediterranean and remote African and Atlantic moisture sources. © 2013 Royal Meteorological Society.