Heavy Vb‑cyclone precipitation: a transfer entropy application showcase

Abstract

Several past summer floods in Central Europe were associated with so-called Vb-cyclones propagating from the Mediterranean Sea north-eastward to Central Europe. This study illustrates the usefulness of the parametric transfer entropy measure TE-linear in investigating heavy Vb-cyclone precipitation events in the Odra catchment (Poland). With the application of the TE-linear approach, we confirm the impact of the Mediterranean Sea on precipitation intensification. Moreover, we also detect significant information exchange to Vb-cyclone precipitation from evaporation over the European continent along the typical Vb-cyclone pathway. Thus, the Mediterranean Sea could enhance the Vb-cyclone precipitation by pre-moistening continental moisture source regions that contribute to precipitation downstream in the investigated catchments. Overall, the transfer entropy approach with the measure TE-linear proved to be computationally effective and complementary to traditional methods such as Lagrangian and Eulerian diagnostics.