Snow cover evolution and its impact on flooding in the Ourthe River catchment (southeast of Belgium) over the period 1958­-2014 using the MAR model

The Ourthe River (southeast of Belgium) is one of the main tributaries of the Meuse River with a catchment area of 3500 km². About 50 % of the floods which occur in the Ourthe River catchment are due to rainfall events associated with the melting of the snow which covers the Ardennes in winter. In this study, hydroclimatic conditions favourable to flooding were reconstructed over the period 1958-2014 using the regional climate model MAR (« Modèle Atmosphérique Régional ») forced by the ERA-interim reanalysis and by the NCEP1 reanalysis. As validation, the MAR results were compared to weather station-based data. A trends analysis was then performed in order to study the evolution of conditions favourable to flooding in the Ourthe River catchment. When the MAR model is forced by the NCEP1 reanalysis, results show a significant decrease in hydroclimatic conditions favourable to flooding because of a decrease in snow accumulation as well as a decrease in the frequency of extreme precipitation events in winter. When MAR is forced by the ERA-interim reanalysis, non-significant trends are found, which could be explained by an underestimation of the precipitation amount computed by the ERA-40 reanalysis before 1979. Further studies are needed to explain the decreasing trends in snow accumulation and extreme precipitation events. Moreover, an hydrological model could also be forced by the MAR outputs in order to improve flood detection.