Extreme daily precipitation in Belgrade and their links with the prevailing directions of the air trajectories

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to present the statistical analysis of the daily precipitation exceeding 20 mm in Belgrade and their links with the prevailing directions of the air trajectories at 500, 1,500 and 5,000 m. For the extreme precipitation analysis, the generalised extreme value (GEV) distribution and generalised Pareto distribution (GPD) were used. The estimated return levels for 100- and 10-year return periods using GEV and GPD were obtained. Four-day backward trajectory simulations were conducted for days with precipitation exceeding 20 mm to investigate the regional transport of the air moisture towards Belgrade using the hybrid single-particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory model. The air trajectories were classified into 13 trajectory categories by the origin and direction of their approach to Belgrade. Three of the most frequent categories of air flow from south-west, south-east and north-west contributed to more than a half of the observed precipitation. Almost 74. 5 % of precipitation totals in Belgrade fell during the warmer part of the year. These were directly connected with the intensive convection of colder and humid, usually maritime, air masses. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.